IAAI Dialogue #4: From Field to Model: Adoption, Usability & Farmer Trust

What actually gets used, and why most tools don't survive first contact with the field. In this session, the Institute for Agriculture and Artificial Intelligence (IAAI) brings together four builders and researchers working at the frontier of agricultural AI deployment to unpack the gap between model sophistication and field usability, covering what it takes to design around extension agents rather than replace them, and how to measure impact beyond download counts. Featuring: Thule Lenneiye (Head of Technical Assistance & Adoption, MBZUAI Institute for Agriculture and AI; Chief of Staff, AGRA) - Hosts the session and frames today's conversation. Monojit Choudhury (IAAI Chief Scientist) - Moderates a panel dialogue on adoption, usability, and farmer trust. Girmaw Abebe Tadesse (Microsoft AI for Good) - On building impactful AI for agriculture through co-development with key stakeholders. El Mahdi Aboulmanadel (Founder & CEO, deepleaf.io) - On AI-powered crop advisory for smallholder farmers, with lessons from DeepLeaf. Jagabondhu Hazra (Director, IBM Research India) - On scaling agricultural intelligence with geospatial AI foundation models like Prithvi. Syed Ishtiaque Ahmed (Associate Professor, University of Toronto) - On FarmersAI: crops, culture, and conciseness. Topics covered: AI adoption and usability, farmer trust, extension agent collaboration, geospatial foundation models, low-resource and offline AI deployment, agricultural advisory design, impact measurement beyond downloads, smallholder farmer technology This is the fourth installment of Transforming Agriculture with AI, IAAI's monthly dialogue series exploring how AI can responsibly serve the world's farmers. Brought to you by IAAI, the International Affairs Office, UAE Presidential Court, the Gates Foundation, and AGX AI.