Scaling Agritech Ecosystem Engineering
Amidst the AI frenzy, I have been nervously asking myself: What can humans do that AI can’t? The answer, as some wise friends have clearly pointed out, boils down to meaning making.
“What makes us human is our ability to do things which are not-yet-understood, which require us to be able to create meaning where there wasn’t meaning before…Creating meaning is inextricably connected to self-directed intention.”
Sure, machines can do do better analysis around water-food-energy nexus. But can it provide a subjective judgment on what that means and make us inquire if it is a problem worth solving?
As I plan Agribusiness Matters 5.0 activities for FY26, this has been the underlying quest that is helping me decide where should I direct my energies going forward. Of course, a lot of it is inspired by the fact that I turn 40 on 10th August( Birthday gifts most welcome:) Now is the time to do things that scare the living daylights out of me.
In a world that wants to slot businesses into binary identity traps of for-profit and not-for-profit entities, I am also deliberately crafting a business identity entity that sits squarely in the middle. When my work has both non-profit parts (Community building) and for-profit parts (Content and Consulting), why shouldn’t I embrace the rainbow of evolution?
With that prologue done, here are the big ticket activities I am planning in the upcoming quarter, besides the regular content programming.
Inspired by Vinobha Bhave and other unsung heroes of land reforms I met during my Madurai travels, along with my friends, I am designing a “Future of Land Reforms in Ag” Conference in Delhi. Why Delhi? Where else do we work to shift the narrative around land reforms if not near the power centers? The conference will be a closed door invite-only conference that explores the actionable possibilities in the future of land reforms across the social maze of Samaaj (Society), Sarkaar (Government) and Bazaar (Market). I will release the agenda of the conference and dates soon. Recently, Nandan Nilekani talked about land tokenization and I want to invite him to our gathering to explore the various dimensions of land tokenisation. Nandan has no reason to take me seriously. Will give my best shot though:)
I have been selected for Small Giants Academy’s Mastery of Systems Leadership that will start in September 2025 and end in July 2026. This is the first time I have decided to sign up for a formal Systems Thinking Exploration with a global faculty group that can help me scale my agritech ecosystem engineering work. I’ll be honest. This fellowship is pretty expensive for my budget and I want to run a fundraising campaign with the community to whom these learnings will eventually reach for all the work I do. I have received the first invoice already which is due on August 14th. Will give my best shot to make this a community-sponsored learning endeavor which will eventually be harvested to the community.
Mastery of Systems Leadership Invitation. 3. Fifth Edition of Agripreneurs Retreat with 60 Agripreneurs in Coimbatore on September 25-26-27. Having completed one full round of organizing Agripreneur Retreats across four directions of the country, I want to start one more round in Coimbatore with the help of local friends Santhosh, Vasanth and Pavalan. I am strongly convinced of the power of these retreats. Incredible magical things happen and I am eager to scale this.
I honestly don’t know how I am going to pull off all the three. None of this sounds reasonable and rational. In defense, I can only quote a wise friend who once wrote: “Rationality can’t tell you how your life can be meaningful, and if you depend on rationality, your life will be meaningless." Will see how this experiment goes. If you have ideas to make this experiment work, I am all ears.
So, what do you think?
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