IoT and your food

Session Abstract:

All of us need “Somebody willing to ride the ruts at double-speed to get the hay in ahead of the rain clouds, and yet stop in mid-field and race to help upon seeing the first smoke of fire from a neighbor’s place… so God made a farmer” (Paul Harvey, 1986). And, farmers and growers need new technologies to keep pace with food demand, minimize environmental impact, and better enjoy the fruits of their labor. Join Dr. Tom Bradicich as he discussed how IoT and AI are helping to better grow, harvest, and distribute the foods we eat. Hear first hand insights on IoT and your food from Dr. Tom’s special guests, farmers Jacob Smoker, owner-operator of The Smoker Farm and Steve Pitstick, owner-manger of Pitstick Farms, along with AI-in-Agriculture expert Craig Ganssle, founder of Cadre-AI.

Speaker:

Dr. Tom Bradicich is VP, Hewlett Packard Fellow. Beginning his career at IBM, Tom was an IBM Fellow, VP, Distinguished Engineer, and Server CTO. Prior to HP and Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Tom was an NI Fellow at National Instruments, an Operational Technologies (OT) company. HP / Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE): Tom is currently Vice President, Hewlett Packard Fellow, and Global Head of Edge and IoT Labs & CoE, at HPE. He and his team develop and commercialize advanced as-a-Service (aaS) software and technologies, focusing on cloud managed remote infrastructure, edge-as-a-service, and converged IT/Operational Technologies (OT). Tom incepted and directs the HPE Channel-to-Edge Institute partner program, and leads company-wide strategies and venture/M&A assessments. Most recently Tom was HPE VP and General Manager, leading the global business unit, Servers and Edge Systems and Software, with P&L, worldwide sales, R&D, and customer experience ownership. In 2018, achieving revenue growth of over $250M, Tom’s business unit was the fastest growing in HPE. He directed the founding of HPE’s three global Innovation Labs for partner and customer collaborations, and led HPE’s first corporate IoT strategy. His sales teams were noted for exceeding sales quotas, and delivering first-of-a-kind products that greatly enhance customer business outcomes. At HP, Tom was VP, Server Engineering, developing and launching servers, storage, and software. Tom is named in CRN’s Top 100 Executives and Top 25 Disrupters in 2016, 2017, and 2019, inducted into the NC State University Alumni Hall of Fame, received the IBM Chairman’s Award, and elected to the IBM Academy of Technology. He currently serves on: Board of Directors of Aspen Technology (AZPN), a publicly traded OT and AI software company Chair, IoT Community industry body (iotcommunity.net) Board of Advisors and Diversity Committee, University of Florida Throughout his career, Tom has led teams to develop, launch, and manage dozens of software and hardware products. And, the creation of several new product categories such as notebook computers, smartphones (IBM Simon™), Converged Systems (IBM BladeCenter™), Converged Edge Systems & Sofware (HPE Edgeline™), and OT and edge management software and platforms (HPE OTLink). Tom’s teams designed and launched the first 64 bit enterprise ARM server, the first x86 server with on-chip graphics, and IBM’s first prototype notebook computer. Tom’s products have won many industry recognitions such as: InfoWorld Technology of the Year, Network World Product of the Year, CRN Product of the Year, CRN Coolest IoT Hardware, Frost & Sullivan Best Practice, ARM TechCon Best of Show, IoT World Congress Best IoT Solution, IT Brand Pulse Leader, Gartner Modular Server Magic Quadrant Leader, Mobile World Congress Top Edge Infrastructure, 451 Research Firestarter Award, and Automation World Edge Compute Leadership Award. Tom led the team to incept HPE’s first corporate IoT Strategy, and launched the GL™ and Edgeline™ hardware and software product lines as HPE’s first line of rugged systems expressly designed for the IoT and Intelligent Edge. And, the OTLink product line, entering HPE for the first time in the Operational Technology (OT) and Edge Platform software businesses. He serves as an advisor to his companies’ corporate legal teams on acquisitions, IP, and business contracts. IBM: During Tom’s tenure at IBM, the x86 systems business grew from several hundred $M to a multi-$B business, and he received the IBM Chairman’s Award for new product category creation. Tom managed teams developing systems management software, the world wide VGA™ graphics and PCTV™ businesses, and embedded server virtualization. He and his team led IBM’s xArchitecture™ strategy, conceived the IBM BladeCenter™ which created the multi-billion dollar Converged Systems new product category, and conceived the IBM PureFlex™ / PureSystem™ systems. Tom led cross company corporate strategies reporting to IBM’s CEO, on Virtualizations software, Home Networking, Product Usability, Data Center Networking, and Power™ Servers. Tom was elected to the IBM Academy of Technolgy, and co-founded the IBM Personal Systems Institute, a management systems for rapid commercialization from IBM Research Labs to the market. Tom served as a lead technical advisor on legal agreements for the sale of the IBM PC business to Lenovo, and the IBM executive sponsor for the Financial Services industry and IBM Labs in India and China. National Instruments: As an NI Fellow, Tom conceived and led NI’s big data strategy, Big Analog Data™ Solutions. He led teams developing end-to-end solutions for the IoT and Industrial Internet, pioneering the convergence of OT and IT. Tom conceived and led the NI corporate strategy for RASM (Reliability, Availability, Serviceability, and Manageability) for test, embedded control, and data acquisition products. Craig Ganssle is the Founder and CEO of Cadre-AI, Inc, an artificial intelligence technology company that is automating the world’s information into AI data models that power autonomous decision-making. Today, Craig leads a seasoned team of visionaries, technical engineers, designers, and strategists working together to introduce Farmwave; Cadre’s agriculture division. Powered by a proprietary and extensive dataset, which includes 3 approved patents, Farmwave adds value with a unified intelligent platform across multiple channels of agriculture. With integrated smart tools, Farmwave increases agriculture profits in the billions on an annual  basis. In addition to his contributions in the public sector, Craig served honorably in the United States Marine Corps as an intelligence communications operator with the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC). He was later honorably discharged in 2001 for medical reasons. During his seven years of service, Craig was  decorated with various commendations and medals for his service and valor. Upon leaving the military, Craig spent 15 years as a senior engineer with Verizon Wireless prior to founding Farmwave. Craig is very active in the tech community in Alpharetta and Atlanta. Farmwave’s headquarters are in Alpharetta, GA, where Craig resides with his wife and children. Steve Pitstick is a progressive grower in Northern Illinois with more than 40 attempts to perfect intense management of his corn and soybean acres in his family business. Combining a passion for agronomics, business and technology, Steve works to bring innovative methods to his 2,500 acre row-crop farm. As an early adopter of technology, Steve has a long track record of utilizing the latest and most innovative equipment and science available in the agricultural industry. He has shared his knowledge and collaborative approach with the following companies: Precision Planting, 360 Yield Center, Farmers Business Network and Climate Corporation. Steve is in his third year as a contributing Research Partner with Monsanto for developing and advancing FieldScripts. Steve is currently President of the Illinois Ag Leadership Alumni Board, having completed the extensive program in 2000. The Illinois Ag Leadership Program provided a view to global agriculture practices on a trip to Egypt and Germany. Jacob Smoker is the owner of The Smoker Farm located right off the southern shores of Lake Michigan. He is a fourth generation farmer raising corn, soybeans, wheat and cattle. After graduating from Purdue University with bachelor degrees in Marketing and Economics, he received his masters in Supply Chain Management. He worked in downtown Chicago for a number of years before returning to the family farm and starting a family. He has been involved in the creation, deployment, and testing of new technology for Granular Inc. and Corteva. He currently serves as a board member for Indiana Farm Bureau’s Policy Advisory Groups advising and guiding state and federal legislators on agriculture and technology issues. His wife, Jill, teaches high school art and has two children; Catherine and Elijah.

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