By Owen Roberts
If you believe that anything new is best introduced carefully and consumed methodically, you’ll like Nathan Hoel’s approach to artificial intelligence (AI).
Nathan is the chief technical officer (CTO) of BinSentry. With more than two decades of experience leading engineering teams and large-scale architectural projects, he firmly believes that leadership is achieved by influence and respect.
Nathan respects the pioneers of agriculture. He believes there’s a natural confluence between agriculture’s rich tradition of being foundational to society’s development, and that its acceptance and support of technology that will help society flourish.
“The food sector is an industry that’s worked for hundreds of years, and that stability can be very attractive,” he says. “We have a responsibility to feed the world, and we don’t have to break the current food system to do it. Instead, let’s use AI to improve it.”
As a CTO with a varied experience in agriculture, finance, retail and education, Nathan leverages his wide range of expertise to equip BinSentry clients with state-of-the-art tools – specifically, AI — to make better decisions.
He’s committed to methodically and responsibly using AI to help the global $588.5-billion feed industry shed its dependence on archaic grain inventory management practices that have dogged the sector for decades.
Such practices – like banging the outside of bin walls to try estimating grain levels, or climbing tall ladders to the top of bins and peering in — are inefficient and even dangerous. Instead, BinSentry uses in-bin sensors and AI for real-time, accurate readings, and to estimate when grain customers need deliveries. This approach is proving to improve feed-conversion ratio, an all-important factor in livestock production.
Nathan, a former software architect, is aware that society is still getting comfortable with AI. It arrived on the scene with blinding speed and became quickly known for consumer-facing applications like ChatGPT. Some sectors questioned its accuracy and intent, leading to scary, damning headlines and pejorative commentary about its potential to replace humans.
But when used responsibly, AI is a helpful business tool.
For example, inventory management platforms powered by AI technology are ushering in a new era of increased efficiency, lower costs, higher profitability and improved employee safety. Automated data collection with IoT sensors gathers precise, real-time data about inventory levels, and detects feed outages and other anomalies.
Nathan believes data-driven decision-making drives efficiency, reduces waste and cut costs. With BinSentry technology, algorithms analyze feed consumption, detect patterns and adjust forecasts so feed mill managers can predict future needs and place orders with confidence. BinSentry helps clients eliminate costly feed outages, lower close-out inventories and reduce feed returns.
In practical terms, here’s what that means for industry leaders using BinSentry’s AI-powered feed inventory management platform:
- Transportation costs are cut by 12%
- Hours spent tracking inventory are 95% lower
- Out-of-feed events are reduced 75%
- Close-out inventories and feed returns are 60-95% lower
“AI’s here and it can be helpful,” says Nathan. “I want to help the sector approach AI in a managed way that will be good for the entire feed chain.”
Owen Roberts is a past president of the International Federation of Agricultural Journalists.