AppHarvest Taps Amazon Veteran Mark Keller to Operationalize AI-Informed Farm Operating System
26 July 2021 - 10:30PM
AgTech leader AppHarvest (NASDAQ: APPH, APPHW), a public benefit
company and certified B Corporation focused on farming more
sustainably using 90% less water than open-field agriculture and
only recycled rainwater, has named Amazon veteran Mark Keller as
its SVP, Software Applications Platform. Keller joins the
AppHarvest technology group as it works to operationalize its
Project TalOS platform to make fresh fruit and vegetable production
as reliable as consumer goods manufacturing.
To create the Farm of the Future, AppHarvest is investing in
robotics, artificial intelligence, tele-operation, and proprietary
seed genetics. With robots roving through the facility alongside
the company’s human labor force, interacting with and caring for
the crops, the company will be collecting data continuously on
plant production to feed into AI and then using software to align
facility operations with sales and logistics.
“We are massively expanding our team to build out our digital
operating model for farming, which has AI at its core that can
manage a global network of facilities and effortlessly execute
complex supply chain strategies intelligently and autonomously,”
said Josh Lessing, AppHarvest chief technology officer. “Adding an
industry veteran like Mark will be a true game changer for this
growth phase of our business, and his strong, people-centric
leadership skills will be a key enabler for the AppHarvest
technology group.”
Keller has a proven record spanning more than 25 years of
turning ideas into full-featured technology solutions, such as
launching Amazon’s first four large-scale Kiva robotics sortable
warehouses and the PrimeNow Warehouse Management Software used to
run the company’s one-hour fulfillment centers.
“The Holy Grail in agriculture is predicting and managing yield
and quality,” said AppHarvest founder and CEO Jonathan Webb.
“Having Mark join will accelerate our efforts as we train our
intelligent robot, Virgo, to harvest multiple crops—ranging from
tomatoes and cucumbers to more delicate fruits such as
strawberries—as we move toward more AI-informed growing. These
insights collected and analyzed, then fed into AI, will be the true
game changer for us since every piece of fruit is an outcome that
resulted from the many variables in the growing process.”
“Two of the most pressing global concerns are water scarcity and
creating resilient food supply, and AppHarvest is solving for
both,” said Keller. “As a father of four, I want to leave a strong
legacy for my children and leverage technology for good. The
foundation AppHarvest is building will give controlled environment
agriculture the opportunity to restructure the food landscape to
mirror the hyper-efficient ecommerce landscape.”
Keller is a Hispanic Gulf-War veteran who brings a unique
perspective to employee engagement programs being an early driver
of the Amazon Warriors veterans employee group and having
participated in the Latinos @ Amazon employee group. Keller also
was an early adopter of the Military Apprentice Software
Development Engineer program to improve diversity hiring in
technology, which he expects to continue at AppHarvest.
About AppHarvest
AppHarvest is an applied technology company in Appalachia
developing and operating some of the world’s largest high-tech
indoor farms, designed to grow non-GMO, chemical pesticide-free
produce, using up to 90 percent less water than open-field
agriculture and only recycled rainwater while producing yields up
to 30 times that of traditional agriculture on the same amount of
land without agricultural runoff. The company combines conventional
agricultural techniques with cutting-edge technology including
artificial intelligence and robotics to improve access for all to
nutritious food, farming more sustainably, building a domestic food
supply, and increasing investment in Appalachia. The company’s
60-acre Morehead, Ky. facility is among the largest indoor farms in
the U.S. For more information, visit
https://www.appharvest.com/.
MEDIA CONTACTS: Travis Parman,
Travis.Parman@appharvest.com;Blair Carpenter,
Blair.Carpenter@appharvest.com IMAGE/VIDEO
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