Leading with Integrity in the Age of Artificial Intelligence

by Melanie Wilt

As artificial intelligence (AI) accelerates innovation across agriculture, from precision farming and autonomous equipment to predictive analytics and smart supply chains, agribusiness leaders are finding themselves at the crossroads of transformation and responsibility. The question is no longer if AI will be used, but how it will be used ethically and sustainably.

AI presents enormous opportunities for efficiency, productivity and insight in agribusiness. According to a McKinsey & Company report, AI could add $500 billion in value annually to agriculture through optimized inputs, yield prediction and real-time decision-making tools. However, alongside these benefits come critical questions of data privacy, equity, transparency and accountability. 

That’s where leadership comes in.

Agribusiness leaders must ensure that AI tools improve operations and align with the core values of innovation, environmental stewardship and trust with growers, consumers and communities.

“Technology without ethics can lead to unintended consequences—especially when dealing with data collected from land, labor and livelihoods,” said Dr. Shannon Ferrell, professor of agricultural law at Oklahoma State University. “It’s on leaders to ask the tough questions before implementation.”

Ethical Risks to Watch

Ethical challenges in AI are especially complex in the agricultural context:

• Data ownership and consent: Who owns the data from precision tools: farmers, equipment manufacturers or tech providers?
• Bias in decision-making algorithms: AI trained on narrow data sets may disadvantage smaller operations or diverse growing environments. (Remember your bias class in LAUNCH?)
• Job displacement: Automation may reduce certain labor needs, but it will create opportunities for growth, advancement and innovation. 
• Transparency: Proprietary AI systems can create “black boxes” where users can’t understand or question outcomes. This is especially troubling for the farmers we serve when they need to be able to make manual adjustments. Take for instance how desperately farmers want to work on their own equipment. Technology adds another layer of inaccessible infrastructure. 

So What’s the Leader’s Role?

Agribusiness leaders have a unique responsibility to set the ethical tone for how AI is adopted and used. 

That includes:

• Building internal AI literacy so teams understand the capabilities and limits of AI tools.
• Asking values-based questions before deploying technology: Does this tool respect grower autonomy? Is it transparent? Who benefits—and who may be left behind?
• Creating feedback loops with stakeholders, especially farmers and frontline employees, to ensure AI systems are useful, transparent and trusted.
• Demanding ethical practices from tech vendors and partners, including bias audits, data protection policies and explainable AI models.

AI is not a shortcut to progress. It’s a tool that depends on the people who lead its use. For agribusinesses to thrive in the AI era, ethical leadership must be embedded at every stage of innovation, from research and development to marketing and deployment. Leading with integrity ensures that AI becomes not just a competitive advantage, but a force for good across the agricultural value chain.

Related: Top 10 AI Tools Agribusiness Leaders Should be Exploring

Sources:

1. McKinsey & Company, “Agriculture’s connected future: How technology can yield new growth,” 2020.
2. Dr. Shannon Ferrell, Oklahoma State University, cited in Successful Farming, “AI and Ethics in Agriculture,” 2023.
3. World Economic Forum, “Responsible AI: Global Frameworks for Ethical Use,” 2024.

This article was researched with the help of AI and heavily edited/re-written by a real human!

Melanie Wilt, APR is the founder and CEO of Shift•ology Communication. She has spent her career helping brands connect with their audiences through purposeful, impactful communication. Learn more about Melanie.