From $50K Pilots to Multi-Million Digital Transformation Mandates: Agtech’s Eureka Moment

Krishna Kumar
February 2, 2026
9 min read

Note:

Over the last 15 years, Cropin has seen Agtech evolve from pilots to large-scale digital transformation. Today, enterprise deployments are replacing experimentation, a clear sign of industry maturity. This blog sets the stage for a new series in which Cropin’s Founder and CEO, Krishna Kumar, reflects on this inflection point for the Agtech industry.

A Founder’s Perspective

Over the last decade and a half, Agtech has steadily moved from the fringes to the core of global agriculture and food systems. When we started in 2010, technology conversations in upstream agriculture were often limited to isolated use cases, small pilots, exploratory deployments, or experimental proof-of-concepts with modest budgets and cautious expectations. Adoption was slow, decision-making was fragmented, and digital transformation was rarely viewed as business-critical. The industry was curious, but not yet convinced.

For many of us building in this space, that phase involved knocking on countless doors, often multiple times, to secure one or two exploratory projects; typically designed to “test the waters,” with minimal financial commitment and narrow scope. Fast forward to today, and the contrast could not be starker. Those tentative conversations have evolved into structured, large-scale RFPs for AI-first digital transformation and agri-intelligence programs, increasingly taking the shape of multi-million-dollar, multi-year contracts. This shift is not accidental, it reflects a fundamental change in how agriculture and food businesses now perceive technology: not as an experiment, but as a strategic necessity.

From Procurement to Strategy: The Evolution of RFPs in Enterprise Tech

To appreciate this shift, it helps to step back in time. The RFP, as we know it, did not emerge from corporate boardrooms, it was born out of necessity in the public sector. Governments needed a structured way to procure complex, high-risk systems where failure was not an option. One of the earliest and most defining examples was the U.S. government’s large-scale computing and defense programs in the 1950s and 60s, where companies like IBM were selected through formal procurement processes to build mission-critical systems such as air-defense and national data infrastructure.

These were not software pilots or experiments, they were bets on technology to run entire nations. As computing moved from government labs into enterprises, the private sector adopted the same rigor. Large corporations began issuing RFPs for ERP systems, data platforms, and enterprise IT transformations, engaging firms like IBM, Microsoft, Intel, Accenture, and other global system integrators. This marked a fundamental shift: technology was no longer a back-office utility, but a strategic asset worthy of long-term, structured investment.

A similar trend is now unfolding in the Agtech and Ag AI space

A similar pattern is now unfolding in upstream agriculture, but it has arrived quietly, without headlines or fanfare. For decades, technology in this sector entered through side doors: small pilots, limited-scope experiments, and cautious proof-of-concepts designed to test if digital tools could even survive the complexity of farming. In the early years, conversations often required knocking on the same doors repeatedly, convincing enterprise leadership teams that data, AI, and predictive intelligence could add value beyond intuition and experience. Budgets were modest, timelines short, and expectations deliberately conservative. Technology was interesting, but rarely mission-critical.

What has changed is not the ambition of technology providers alone, but the reality facing agri-food businesses themselves. Climate volatility is no longer theoretical; production shocks are now annual events. Geopolitical tensions have exposed the fragility of concentrated sourcing regions. Regulations such as the EUDR have turned traceability from a “nice-to-have” into a compliance imperative. At the same time, consumers and global brands are demanding proof of sustainable sourcing, proof of regenerative practices, and proof of resilience. These pressures have converged to create a moment where incremental experimentation is no longer enough.

As a result, upstream agriculture is witnessing a decisive shift: exploratory digitisation pilots are giving way to large-scale, AI-first digital transformation RFPs, increasingly valued at multi-million-dollar, multi-year commitments. These RFPs are no longer about testing dashboards or digitizing isolated workflows. They are about surety of supply, the ability to predict, protect, and secure production before disruptions cascade into global shortages. What was once uncommon is now becoming the norm, reflecting a deeper industry maturity. Much like enterprise IT decades ago, agriculture is recognizing that intelligence is not an add-on, it is the foundation on which the future of food must be built.

Where Large-Scale Agtech RFPs Are Taking Shape Today

Across global agri-food enterprises, RFPs are no longer fragmented or tactical. They are converging around a clear set of priorities that reflect how critical agriculture has become to business continuity, national security, and sustainability goals.

The below domains highlight where large-scale, enterprise-grade RFPs are now evolving in the Agtech landscape.

Surety of Supply - The Force Behind Today’s Largest RFPs

At the heart of nearly every large-scale digital transformation RFP in agriculture today lies one overriding objective: Surety of Supply. For decades, supply assurance in food systems was assumed rather than engineered, built on historical production patterns and a limited number of sourcing regions. That assumption no longer holds. Climate volatility, geopolitical disruptions, regulatory pressures, and shifting consumer expectations have exposed how fragile global food supply chains truly are. As a result, enterprises are no longer asking whether technology can improve efficiency; they are asking whether it can guarantee predictability, continuity, and resilience at scale. This shift has transformed exploratory pilots into multi-million-dollar, multi-year RFPs, where AI-first agri-intelligence platforms are now expected to provide early risk signals, production certainty, diversified sourcing strategies, and real-time decision support. Surety of Supply has become the business imperative, and the primary driver behind the most consequential RFPs.

Building visibility and transparency into global food production and procurement

Leading CPGs, seed companies, commodity majors, and food retailers are issuing large-scale RFPs to digitize farm operations and monitor production across regions. These programs span millions of acres and thousands of growers, creating a unified, real-time view of what is being grown, where, and under what conditions, replacing fragmented data and delayed reporting with trusted production intelligence.

AI-first digital transformation for agri-intelligence and margin protection

Climate volatility, market uncertainty, and price fluctuations are directly impacting business margins. Enterprises are investing in AI-driven intelligence platforms to forecast yield, identify risks early, and build supply networks that can anticipate disruptions rather than react at the last minute. The recent cocoa crisis, which severely impacted the operations and P&L of global chocolate makers, has reinforced the urgency of this shift.

Mitigating trade shocks and geopolitical risks through diversified sourcing

As geopolitical tensions rise, the assumption of seamless global trade is breaking down. Food, feed, and fiber are non-negotiable commodities, and large-scale shocks are no longer acceptable. Agri-food businesses are diversifying production and sourcing regions, while governments are taking decisive steps to safeguard food security, driving RFPs focused on regional intelligence and risk mitigation.

End-to-end traceability to meet regulatory and consumer expectations

Regulations such as the EUDR, combined with growing consumer demand for sustainably produced food, are making traceability mandatory rather than optional. Organizations are investing in Agtech platforms that provide last-mile connectivity and farm-level visibility, enabling verified proof of origin, compliance, and responsible production practices at scale.

Making regenerative agriculture investments measurable and outcome-driven

Companies are committing billions of dollars to regenerative agriculture, but success depends on measurability and standardization. RFPs increasingly seek Agtech tools that support farmer advisory, ensure adherence to regenerative standards, and measure outcomes such as quality, resilience, and environmental impact; bringing predictability and accountability to regeneration programs.

Delivering climate-smart agriculture (CSA) and sustainability commitments

Beyond regeneration, enterprises are using digital platforms to operationalize broader climate-smart agriculture goals, including emissions reduction, water stewardship, and biodiversity. Technology is becoming essential to track progress, validate impact, and report sustainability outcomes with confidence.

Large-scale farmer empowerment and inclusion programs

Organizations recognize that meaningful food system transformation is impossible without farmers at the center. RFPs now include farmer empowerment initiatives, ranging from digital advisory and productivity support to income resilience programs; ensuring that technology adoption translates into real, on-ground impact.

Conclusion

The above are only a few of the major RFPs that we are seeing but it is not limited to these. We will cover more RFP specific insights in detail.

As large enterprises once stood on the verge of a digital revolution in the late 20th century, agriculture is now experiencing its own inflection point. Just as structured RFPs became the norm for ERP and enterprise IT solutions in industry after industry, we are seeing a similar pattern emerge in Agtech, with greater urgency and strategic relevance. The global food system is vast, feeding billions annually, yet digital penetration in agriculture has historically lagged behind other sectors due to infrastructure challenges, variability in climate and crop conditions, and high implementation costs.

However, this is changing rapidly. Reports show that the connected agriculture market is growing exponentially, driven by demand for efficiency, sustainability, and resilience in food production. Smart Farming, Precision agriculture, Digitisation, IoT, and AI have the potential to significantly optimize resource use, improve productivity, and reduce waste, contributing to a more sustainable, resilient global food system. This combination of growing market scale and proven technology potential has helped elevate digital agriculture from early-stage pilots to enterprise-wide RFPs seeking comprehensive, scalable solutions.

Today’s momentum clearly indicates that Agtech is on the right track, and that adoption is becoming mainstream rather than experimental. This shift mirrors broader enterprise tech evolution, where data, analytics, and AI moved from niche pilots to core business infrastructure. In agriculture, the transition from intuition-driven decisions to intelligence-powered operations is now underway: digital tools are augmenting human judgment with predictive insights, helping agribusinesses anticipate risk, enhance traceability, and strengthen sustainability.

With the scale of food system challenges only increasing, whether from climate pressures, supply chain shocks, or demand for sustainably produced food, this transition offers an optimistic picture of how Agtech adoption can transform one of the world’s oldest and most essential sectors into one that is resilient, efficient, and future-ready!

Author Bio

Krishna Kumar

Krishna Kumar is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Cropin, the world's most advanced AI platform for Food and Agriculture. He established Cropin in 2010 and pioneered the use of digital technologies and predictive intelligence. Cropin is transforming humankind’s oldest industry – agriculture into a modern, digitally connected sector. Today, Cropin has digitized over 30 million acres and empowered nearly 7 million farmers across 103 countries. Under his leadership, Cropin has introduced cutting-edge innovations, including Cropin Cloud and the industry's first real-time Gen AI platform, Cropin Sage, with the goal of building intelligence around every acre of cultivable land. Passionate about transforming global food systems through tech and data, he has also been recognized as a UBS Global Visionary, World Economic Forum Steering Committee Member, Top 10 Emerging Technologies of 2025, and serves as a non-official member of the National Startup Advisory Council.