Future Food & Ag Leadership Program

Program

October 2-4, 2023

In person / INSEAD, Fontainebleau, France

The Next Frontier: How Global Trends are Impacting Global Agri Businesses

Covid-19, war, inflation, climate change, civil unrest, hunger, obesity, drought… The macro headwinds facing the world in 2023, many of them interconnected, are putting pressure on leaders across industries, not least in food and agriculture. How are these global trends shaping the future of food and agriculture and the transformation of our food systems? And how should leaders respond?

Subramanian Rangan, PhD and INSEAD’s Professor of strategy and management, has extensively studied the impacts of globalization, building global and sustainable businesses, and the future role of capitalism. In this seminar he will examine the latest global trends and challenges and workshop strategies for leaders to navigate them.

Subramanian Rangan

Professor of Strategy and Management, INSEAD; The Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Court Endowed Chair in Societal Progress

Subi Rangan received an MBA from the MIT Sloan School of Management and a Ph.D. in political economy from Harvard University. His research explores the future of capitalism, the integration of performance and progress in enterprises, and the political sociology of discrimination of foreign transnational firms. He is also the founder of the Society for Progress and has authored/co-authored multiple books and articles. Subi has won several awards for his research and teaching and directs INSEAD's executive seminar AVIRA.

Effective Leadership in a Dynamic World: Agroprosperis case

This session on Effective Leadership in a Dynamic World explores popular theories and advocates for a comprehensive, context-driven model tailored to the globalized world. Attendees will broaden their understanding of effective leadership, develop a contextual role-based model suited to their unique needs, and create individual action plans for personal growth.

The session will also include a deep-dive into Agroprosperis Case (Agroprosperis Group is the largest crop producer, exporter and supply chain operator in the Black Sea region)

Thomas Hellwig

Professor of Leadership, INSEAD

Professor Hellwig is an expert in leadership and organisational behaviour – with special interests in the areas of executive
teams, leading change, organisational culture, and executive health and stress. He is an experienced programme director and teacher, having designed learning journeys and programmes for companies across a wide range of sectors. As a trained physician, Professor Hellwig leverages his first-hand experience and insights from managing high-performing medical teams in stressful situations (emergency, cardiology and cancer medicine). His doctorate in psychotherapy allows him to have the depth and experience to help his clients handle difficult psychological situations.

Openning dinner

Le Circle

Optimizing Agri-Food: Strategies for Designing and Managing Efficient Supply Chains Businesses

Despite employing roughly a third of the world’s workforce, and contributing to over 10% of global GDP, the food and agriculture industry is still sending nearly a billion people to bed hungry each day.

Facing additional challenges including diminishing natural resources and a growing population, agrifood businesses need to be more productive than ever.

In this session, Enver Yücesan will address the challenges these businesses face, with a particular focus on crop farming and input management, including a closer look at the development of high-performance seeds and crop protection products. He will look at how they manage their production processes as well as how they ensure the equitable disitrbute of crop yields to minimize waste and shortfalls.

Enver Yücesan

Professor of Operations Management, INSEAD; Director, Supply Chain Management

Enver Yücesan's is a Professor of Operations Management at INSEAD.

Professor Yücesan's main teaching and research activities focus on tactical operational problems such as process analysis, manufacturing planning and control, integrated logistics, supply chain management, and performance assessment in manufacturing as well as service environments.

Professor Yücesan is a specialist in computer simulation with an emphasis on large-scale industrial applications and performance analysis. He is an industrial engineer with a PhD in Operations Research from Cornell University.Enver Yücesan is an Academic

Director of the Supply Chain Management programme.

Navigating Climate Change: Strategies for Sustainable Agriculture

Climate change threatens our food system with extreme weather events causing crop failures, reduced yields, and risking the livelihoods of farmers. This session will discuss optimal decisions for seed manufacturers in the context of climate change and its impact on expected profits and farmers' welfare. It will also evaluate the effectiveness of agricultural policies and government interventions in addressing climate risks and commercial seed availability in low-income markets.

Enver Yücesan

Professor of Operations Management, INSEAD; Director, Supply Chain Management

Wine tasting with Program Director

Mastering Uncertainty: Enhancing Decision-Making in Complex Environments

In any management context, decisions must be made under conditions of uncertainty and risk. Directors, board members, and managers often lean on heuristics and intuition, especially when faced with limited information, time constraints, and rapidly changing circumstances. Unfortunately, this approach can lead to systematic biases in decision framing, information seeking, and feedback evaluation.

This session aims to illuminate the cognitive processes underlying these biases and offer insights for refining individual judgments, decision-making under uncertainty, and risk assessment. Join us as we delve into strategies and techniques for bolstering your decision-making prowess in complex and dynamic environments, empowering you to navigate challenges with confidence and clarity.

Enrico Diecidue

Professor of Decision Sciences, INSEAD; Visiting Professor, Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania (2008–09)

Enrico Diecidue is a Professor of Decision Sciences at INSEAD. He obtained his degree in Economics from Bocconi University, Italy in 1996 and his PhD from Tilburg University, the Netherlands in 2001. He has been a resident faculty member at INSEAD since 2001, with visiting positions at Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania and Erasmus School of Economics, the Netherlands. His research focuses on decision making under uncertainty, including the role of regret, aspiration levels, and time in individual decisions and the role of groups in complex decisions. He has published in leading journals and serves on the editorial boards of Decision and Journal of Risk and Uncertainty. He teaches courses in uncertainty, data, and judgment for MBA and Executive MBA programs, as well as Decision Sciences for PhD students and Executive Education programs. He directs the International Directors Programme and the Strategic Decision Making for Leaders Program.

Emotional Intelligence for business. Reflections on the program

In the closing session, we will consolidate our learnings from the programme and plan next steps that will allow participants to put into practice what they have learned.

First, participants will fill out the Personal Action Commitment (PAC) document included in their course package. This form asks them to list two or three priorities that they will work on upon their return, as well as the concrete steps they will take to achieve those priorities, and metrics they will use to evaluate the results.

Second, we will ask them to work in peer groups to discuss their proposed action plans and give feedback to each other.

Thomas Hellwig

Professor of Leadership, INSEAD

Fontainebleau castle excursion

October 19, 20

Virtual

Sustainability

PRESENTATION: Understanding climate risks for business

Himanshu Gupta

co-founder and CEO of ClimateAi

Himanshu Gupta is the cofounder and CEO of ClimateAi. He has worked in the climate space for over 15 years, including working with former Vice President Al Gore, as well as serving as the lead modeler for the Emission Pathways project for the Indian government. He holds a joint MBA/MS in environment and resources from Stanford.

FIRESIDE CHAT: Going public as an ESG company - lessons learned

Matt Crisp

Founder & CEO of Benson Hill

Matt is an entrepreneur, executive and former venture capitalist who is passionate about connecting technology and business with purpose to deliver global impact.

Matt is a lifelong learner who started his career in venture capital, where he grew into a partner role and worked directly with and within emerging companies across biotechnology and other technology-driven fields. His exposure to the broad workings of numerous companies has shaped a strong generalist perspective, which is particularly valuable in his current role.

Matt has developed a passion for how different types of innovation can deliver unique and significant value creation opportunities and impact, particularly in food and agriculture.He most enjoys empowering his colleagues, partners and stakeholders to help realize the vision of a healthier, more sustainable and more accessible food system.Matt holds a Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance from Radford University.

Louisa Burwood-Taylor

Head of Media & research at AgFunder and Co-Founder FFA Leadership Program

Louisa Burwood-Taylor is a globally-recognized journalist and thought leader for the food & agriculture industry. Currently managing editor and head of media & research for AgFunder, which she joined as employee #3 in 2015, she was also the founding editor of the first-ever publication to focus on agriculture investment, Agri Investor.

Before that, she launched an institutional investment intelligence service for the Financial Times in Asia. She has covered a range of financial products and markets during her career, from equities and institutional investment in Asia to structured bonds in Europe, before turning her attention to food and agriculture 10 years ago

Anton S. Ovchinnikov

Professor of Decision Sciences

Anton Ovchinnikov is a Visiting Professor of Operations, Technology and Decision Sciences at INSEAD and a Distinguished Professor of Management Analytics and Scotiabank Scholar of Customer Analytics at Smith School of Business at Queen’s University in Canada.Owing to a unique combination of his technical background and practical business experience, Anton’s research offers rigorous solutions to practical problems. The focus of the problems and the nature of solutions constantly change as the landscape of management evolves, and Anton’s research utilizes multiple techniques, from the classical Management Science toolkit (decision analytics, optimization) and economics (game theory, welfare, and choice analyses) to newer techniques, such as lab and field experiments, and, recently, data science and machine learning.Anton’s works have been published in the leading academic journals, such as Management Science, Operations Research, Manufacturing & Services Operations Management and Harvard Business Review. His research was also recognized by multiple awards., Anton also is a prolific creator of pedagogical materials. He authored ~30 cases, technical notes, and interactive simulations

PANEL DISCUSSION: Supporting sustainable leadership

Sonalie Figueiras

Editor-in-chief at Green Queen Media, founder of Source Green

Sonalie Figueirais a serial social entrepreneur, trends forecaster, sustainability expert, food futurist and eco-powerhouse who has been inspiring global audiences for over a decade with practical steps on how to fight climate change. Known as the Green Queen of Asia, she is the founder and Editor in Chief of the award-winning Green Queen - the region’s first impact media platform that educates millions of readers on the connection between health, sustainability and the environment and showcases future solutions.

She is also the co-founder and CEO of organic sourcing platform Ekowarehouse and climate tech SaaS Source Green, which helps consumer brands quit plastic packaging thanks to proprietary plastic reduction software. A mentor to several startups, Sonalie is also a multi-time award winner including 2021 Women of Power, 2019 GEN T Honoree, V Label Global Hero, and a two-time TEDx Speaker.

Anna Ottosson

Mudcake

Anna Ottosson is a founding partner of food system fund Mudcake. Mudcake (formerly Trellis Road) is a microfund run by ex-founders dedicated to making the world a better place for the next generation. They invest in the strongest founders shaping the way we produce, distribute, and consume food. Their typical ticket is $200k-$600k in pre-seed and seed rounds globally.

So far, the portfolio includes 20+ startups on 4 continents.Prior to founding Mudcake, Anna has a background as a founder and CEO of an internet infrastructure startup, and she has also worked with product- and go-to-market strategy, especially focused on B2B companies.

Corporate Value Creation and Governance

14:00 - 18:00

Agroprosperis case study will illustrate the direct impact link between corporate culture and performance, show what are the key barriers to the positive corporative culture change.

You will discuss the role and limitations of incentive compensation in the culture change process.

Stanislav Shekshnia

Senior Affiliate Professor of Entrepreneurship and Family Enterprise

Innovations

PRESENTATION: 10 years of agrifoodtech investment — a data preview

Louisa Burwood-Taylor

Head of media & research at AgFunder

Louisa Burwood-Taylor is a globally-recognized journalist and thought leader for the food & agriculture industry. Currently managing editor and head of media & research for AgFunder, which she joined as employee #3 in 2015, she was also the founding editor of the first-ever publication to focus on agriculture investment, Agri Investor.
Before that, she launched an institutional investment intelligence service for the Financial Times in Asia.

She has covered a range of financial products and markets during her career, from equities and institutional investment in Asia to structured bonds in Europe, before turning her attention to food and agriculture 10 years ago.

Anton S. Ovchinnikov

Professor of Decision Sciences

KEYNOTE/FIRESIDE CHAT: Successes and failures in venture capital

Manuel Gonzalez

Partner at AgFunder

Manuel Gonzalez is a partner at AgFunder, one of the world’s leading agrifoodtech venture capital firms. Before AgFunder, he was the Global Head of “F&A Startup Innovation” for Rabobank. In that position, he created and founded the platforms for food startups, FoodBytes! and TERRA, and created the international team that has led them to be a great global successes.

Manuel was also General Manager of Rabobank West Coast in the United States and General Manager of Rabobank in Mexico. Before working for Rabobank, Manuel was the founder and CEO of González Guzmán Alimentos, a yogurt and sour cream production and distribution company, in Guadalajara, Mexico. Manuel was born in Guadalajara, Mexico and has an MBA from Georgetown University.

FIRESIDE CHAT: From startup to exit: how to succeed in AgTech

David Friedberg

ClimateCorp

David Friedberg is an American entrepreneur, businessman, and angel investor. He founded and was chief executive of The Climate Corporation, whose $1 billion sale to Monsanto in 2013 made it the first unicorn in the agtech space.

He is currently founder and CEO of The Production Board. He is also a co-host of the All-In podcast alongside other big names in venture capital. Spanning his career, he has contributed to 32 patents.

Organizational Culture Change to Achieve Employee's Engagement

14:00 - 18:00

Stanislav Shekshnia

Senior Affiliate Professor of Entrepreneurship and Family Enterprise

Prior program feedback

Participation fee