Digital Ag Leaders Briefing: Oct 26

This is the first quarterly briefing conversation for the NZ Digital Ag Leaders Network.

The Digital Ag Leaders Network is a peer group for senior leaders responsible for strategy, transformation, and decision making around digital adoption in agriculture and horticulture in New Zealand. At present, participation is by invitation or peer recommendation only, while the founding members shape the network during its first year.

The October 2026 briefing is designed to bring the group together, provide an outlook on relevant emerging trends, and provide opportunities for discussion and questions.

As a first session, we will look at ways that agribusinesses and farming companies are making use of AI and machine learning (ML) - moving beyond search and summarising documents.

Your hosts Andrew Cooke and Michael Smith will be joined by:

• Josh Byford-Pothan - Senior Advisor AI for Standards at MPI, and supporting farmers with AI use on farm, and

• Fiona Turner - Co-Founder and CEO at Australian Agritech company Bitwise Agronomy

We anticipate there will be a mixture of experience and views across the network group, so bring your questions and feedback.