Building what comes next: AI, robotics and the future of food systems There’s a particular kind of builder who sits at the edge of what’s next. Not chasing noise, but focused on how things actually work. How systems connect. How ideas become real Amanda Ducrou is one of those people. With a background spanning a PhD in health informatics, four years at Amazon in Seattle, and over a decade at Expedia Group where she moved from software engineer through to principal architect,

How generosity, visibility and shared opportunity are shaping the next generation of women leaders in AgriFood-Tech Every year, International Women’s Day invites us to pause and reflect not just on how far we have come, but on what still needs to change. In 2026, the theme “Give to Gain” captures something both simple and profound. Progress rarely happens by accident. It happens when people intentionally share power, opportunity and knowledge so others can step forward. Few i

A wrap-up of our latest TEKWOMEN Lunch & Learn A Conversation Grounded in Place There is a distinct energy that comes from bringing founders, farmers and advisors into one shared space. Our November Lunch & Learn unfolded as an honest, generous conversation about what AgTech looks like today, where it’s working, and what will matter most as we build for the future. Very quickly, one theme rose to the surface: technology only succeeds when it respects place . You cannot design

Growing Business the Sustainable Way Jess Uhlig’s story begins far from the paddocks she now walks. Her career started in tourism and hospitality; welcoming travellers to the tropics of Port Douglas, working in bustling restaurants, and earning a Bachelor of Tourism Management while promoting reef operators and local experiences. But after two years travelling around Australia - living simply out of a caravan, counting every drop of water and watt of power Jess returned hom

A TEKWOMEN Agri-Rise Conversation with Sara Gibson, Founder of Kelpy Bone Sara Gibson’s journey into sustainable innovation didn’t begin with a business plan - it began outdoors. Growing up on the coast and on her family’s farm, she was shaped by nature, curiosity, and role models who taught her that nothing is impossible if you're willing to work for it . Long before Kelpy Bone existed, Sara was drawn to environmental systems, fieldwork, and the kind of hands-on problem-sol

When you speak with Melissa Andrews , Co-Founder and Category Lead of Connected Farms , you quickly realise you’re talking to someone who doesn’t just see technology as wires and signals. She sees it as connection in the truest sense of the word.From regional New South Wales to remote corners of New Zealand, Canada, the UK and the US, Connected Farms has one clear mission: to make digital connectivity as fundamental to agriculture as diesel or water. “Our end goal,” Meliss

There is a grounded beauty in hearing two sisters talk about life on the land, the rhythm, the responsibility and the pride that weaves through it all. For Angie and Shona, fifth generation graziers and co-founders of FarmHER Hands , the story begins and circles back to home. They both grew up on a cattle property where long days in the paddock and early lessons in responsibility were part of the family DNA. “We used to ride the four wheeler twenty kilometres to school,” la

F2F TEKWOMEN Agri-Rise at the Gatton Showcase The future of Agrifood-tech isn’t being written in boardrooms alone; it is being tested, trialled and reimagined in research paddocks, smart farms and showcase fields across Australia. This October, one of those proving grounds will be UQ’s Gatton Campus, host to the annual Gatton AgTech Showcase . A two-day convergence of producers, researchers, startups and innovators. Running in parallel, the F2F TEKWOMEN Agri-Rrise program wi

Key Lessons from our first F2F TEKWOMEN Lunch & Learn At our very first F2F TEKWOMEN Lunch & Learn, we had the privilege of hearing from Bundjalung woman, chef, entrepreneur, and “Native Food Queen” Mindy Woods. What followed was not just a story about food or business, it was a lesson in leadership, culture and community that every one of us in Agrifood-tech can take forward. The theme: work, life, culture, inseparable Mindy reminded us that career and life are not two separ

Laura Carniel: From Farm Roots to Global Voices Laura Carniel grew up in Queensland’s Lockyer Valley, in a world framed by mountains and sustained by vegetables pulled straight from the soil. Her childhood was shaped by the rhythms of farm life and by a family who believed in the power of community, helping to establish one of the valley’s first Farmers’ markets. From an early age, food was not just nourishment, it was connection, responsibility and resilience. Her journey c