Bob Trogele

Dr. Bob Trogele

Chief Executive Officer, ProAgInvest

Rhishi Pethe runs an independent consulting firm (Metal Dog Labs LLC) and has 20+ years of technology experience working with the agriculture and food industries. Rhishi has had leadership roles at Mineral (an Alphabet company), The Climate Corporation (Bayer), Amazon, and other technology companies. He has led the product management function at two startups through exits, and one through a spin out. He has extensive experience in supply chain & logistics, product management, data and technology strategy, and artificial intelligence. He is the creator of the weekly newsletter at the intersection of technology and food/agriculture called “Software is Feeding the World.” He is a frequent podcaster and author.

Rhishi has an MBA from the University of Chicago, a graduate degree from Kansas State University, and a Bachelor’s degree from IIT in India. He lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Rhishi Pethe

Rhishi Pethe

Independent Consultant, Metal Dog Labs LLC

Rhishi Pethe runs an independent consulting firm (Metal Dog Labs LLC) and has 20+ years of technology experience working with the agriculture and food industries. Rhishi has had leadership roles at Mineral (an Alphabet company), The Climate Corporation (Bayer), Amazon, and other technology companies. He has led the product management function at two startups through exits, and one through a spin out. He has extensive experience in supply chain & logistics, product management, data and technology strategy, and artificial intelligence. He is the creator of the weekly newsletter at the intersection of technology and food/agriculture called “Software is Feeding the World.” He is a frequent podcaster and author.

Rhishi has an MBA from the University of Chicago, a graduate degree from Kansas State University, and a Bachelor’s degree from IIT in India. He lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Susan Groeneveld

Susan Groeneveld

Founder, sylvester.ai

Susan Groeneveld is a distinguished serial entrepreneur with specialization in agricultural science and technology based businesses. Her 25 year career has included leading commercialization for some of the largest global companies in animal health and agriculture, co-founding an award winning North American marketing agency- WS- and globally recognized not for profit in animal health. In 2023, her outstanding contributions were recognized as a top 5 finalist for Entrepreneur of the Year for Women in AI across North America. This recognition underscores Susan’s impact and leadership in the dynamic and rapidly evolving landscape of artificial intelligence. Her passion for innovation, coupled with her dedication to addressing global challenges, positions her as a driving force in the ongoing transformation of agriculture and animal health sectors.

Wendy Ell

Wendy Ell

President, Industries in Transition

Wendy Ell offers three decades of marketing expertise coupled with government and industry relations and a long list of successful fundraising endeavors. Her three decades of work in energy and agriculture have impacted special interest groups in Alberta, Canada-wide and internationally.

By working with some of Canada’s most respected media and communications firms, Wendy has had the pleasure of working closely with individuals and organizations working up and down some of the most prized business sectors, leading and launching hundreds of consumer marketing, B2B and cause marketing programs. In the course of her work, she has orchestrated dozens of live and digital events, workshops, ad and PR campaigns, special reports, and webinars – all serving the needs of a wide array of special interest groups that in many cases have differing motivations, agendas and viewpoints.

She is a board member for Canada’s Women and Wealth organization, an advisor to Ag for Life, Regeneration Canada, Ten Peaks Innovation Alliance and volunteer for the Calgary Stampede and past advisor to the Clean Resource Innovation Network, the Petroleum Technology Alliance of Canada and organizing lead for Canada’s Energy Technology conference and Energy Supply Chain Conference, each pulling in over 900 attendees annually.

Ben Cloud

Ben Cloud

CEO & Director, Biodel AG Inc

For over 30 years, Ben Cloud has been a farmer and farmland developer with operations in Arizona and Southern California. His significant experience in production agriculture including drip-micro irrigation systems and design, cropping systems, and processing. Ben believes agriculture is the best and most economical option for sequestering large volumes of CO2 and other GHG’s from our atmosphere. At Biodel AG, he has developed the tools to succeed.

Steve Sibulkin

Steve Sibulkin 

Chief Executive Officer and Board Member, BioLumic

Steve leads the BioLumic team, helping set the strategy, and ensuring we deliver value to customers, partners, and shareholders.  

Most recently, Steve led a range of digital and sustainability initiatives at Yara International, which acquired a company Steve co-founded and led, Agronomic Technology Corp. Steve has started and run several technology-driven businesses. 

Steve holds a BA from UCLA and an MBA from Kellogg School of Management. He lives in New York. 

Meiko Martin

Meiko Martin

Director of Business Development, Off-Road Autonomy, Trimble

Meiko joined Trimble in 2013 and currently serves as director of business development, Off-Road Autonomy. Prior to this, he was Lead Product Owner for Off-Road Autonomy and served as Trimble OEM account manager. He also has held leadership roles at Ludwig Bergmann GmbH and Krampe Fahrzeugbau GmbH.

Meiko has more than 20 years of experience in the Off-Road business, specifically in the areas of product development, marketing and sales of GNSS, machine automation and autonomy technologies for the agricultural and construction machine industry.

Meiko earned his Executive MBA from Durham Business School and EBS Business School and holds a Bsc. in Agricultural Engineering from Hohenheim University and Agricultural Economics from Stellenbosch University.

Jaymie Forrest

Jaymie Forrest

President and CEO, Activ Technologies

Jaymie Forrest leads Activ Technologies to help companies and their trading partners enable digital supply chains. With over 30 years of experience, Jaymie specializes in supply chain operations and logistics technologies in a variety of industries and applications.  

As CSCO, prior to Activ, she delivered the first high-speed produce handling conveyance with integrated cross-border operations, world-class food safety, and full case-level traceability. While serving as Managing Director of the Georgia Tech Supply Chain & Logistics Institute, she founded the Integrated Food Chain Research Center working with governments and industries to improve logistics performance and developing cold chain programs designed to reduce food waste. Also, founder of The Logistics Council for the Republic of Panama, and Logistics Innovation Centers in Singapore, China, Mexico, Costa Rica, Panama, and Brazil—all focused on operational strategies and logistics efficiencies. 

Martha Montoya

Martha Montoya

Chief Executive Officer, Agtools, Inc.

With over 30 years of worldwide Food/Agricultural and Supply Chain experience, traveling while delivering projects beneficial for the supplier and customers on 4 continents.  Dealing with both small and industrial size farms, government entities and sophisticated buyers in Europe, Russia and the United States, she has set up production lines across many commodities. Today she leads Agtools, a Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence award winner, a SaaS and enterprise firm that delivers global food & agricultural financial and market intelligence data. Agtools offers trusted official data from around the world to manage market volatility, increase profitability, and reduce the world’s food waste and CO2, and SO2 footprint.  Appointed to the Board of IFT (International Food Technologists), Department of Commerce Export Council and have served on the Board of the California Department of Food and Agriculture, Worldwide Advisory Board of Women for Walmart, Executive Board of United States Hispanic Chambers of Commerce and several additional boards.

Carolyn Gunkel

Carolyn Gunkel

Counsel, Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP

Carolyn Gunkel is a litigator who represents and advises clients on critical legal and business issues. She represents businesses in product liability, agribusiness and toxic tort matters in state and federal courts. Carolyn is experienced in all aspects of litigation.