It is a true honor for Plantae Technology to be among the TOP 100 AI Influencers in the Agri-food Chain 2026, standing out as one of the most promising projects in Mediterranean agtech.
ExpoSembrai 2026, the 4th International Congress on AI Applied to the Agri-food Chain, will be held on September 21 and 22, 2026, at the University of Córdoba.
The congress enjoys top-level institutional support: Her Majesty Queen Letizia has accepted the Presidency of the Honorary Committee of Sembrai 2026, a distinction which—in accordance with the protocol of the Royal Household—does not entail her attendance at the event, but which reflects the importance this event has achieved for the agri-food sector and innovation in Spain.
What is the TOP 100 AI Influencers in the Agri-food Chain 2026?
ExpoSembrai 2026 The TOP 100 AI Influencers, ranking was developed by the INTEC Foundation (European Foundation for Innovation) as part of our 5th Agri-food Trends Report (ISBN 978-84-09-60294-0), presented at Madrid Fusión 2026 to over 200 top-level stakeholders.
Each profile’s score was based on five independently weighted axes:
- Verifiable impact on the value chain (ha, farmers, capital mobilized) — 35%.
- Industry vs. Academia: CEOs and executives score higher than academics without knowledge transfer — 25%.
- Digital traction and global networking (WAT SF, WAT London, APAC Summit, F&A Next, THRIVE, AgFunder) — 20%.
- Sectoral technical authority (patents, publications with industry impact) — 10%.
- Corporate network with the capacity to mobilize capital or actual adoption — 10%.
All profiles have been verified by at least one of 11 independent external sources: AgFunder, WAT SF 2026, WAT London, APAC Summit, F&A Next/StartLife/Wageningen, THRIVE Top 50 AgTech, SembrAI, EIT Food, FAO, ANGED, and ICEX.
The key to its selection is that Plantae Water AI achieves a 28% water savings across 12 pilot farms in Murcia and Almería, validated at AgrifoodTEF.
A validated 28% water savings at AgrifoodTEF is not just a pilot project: it’s a solution ready to scale.
Within the TOP 100 AI Influencers, the following typically coexist:
- Pure AI companies → predictive models.
- Smart machinery → automation.
- Sensors (like those designed by Plantae) → data collection.
- Plantae is at the base of the agri-food chain’s technological pyramid. Real technology applied to the field.
- Plantae influences agri-food AI because it provides the data that makes it possible.
Plantae within the agritech stack
Plantae is not just “sensors,” it’s a complete agricultural IoT system (hardware + software + agronomy):
- Soil sensors: moisture, temperature, conductivity.
- Weather station: rainfall, climate, radiation.
- Digital platform: app/web with real-time data.
Agronomic layer: interpretation and recommendations.
It’s what’s called a HaaS (Hardware as a Service) model in agriculture.
And its key proposition: connecting the crop to the internet and making decisions based on real-time data.
ExpoSembrAI 2026
The fair was created with the aim of bringing artificial intelligence to the agri-food sector through practical demonstrations and real-world use cases. Its motto is: “AI you can touch. AI you can see. AI that transforms.”
The main objectives of ExpoSembraI 2026 are:
- Guest Country of Honor: India.
- To drive the digital transformation of the agricultural, livestock, and agri-food sectors through artificial intelligence-based solutions.
- To showcase real-world AI applications in the field, such as:
- Autonomous tractors.
- Robots for agriculture and livestock.
- Drones and smart sensors.
- Crop monitoring via satellite.
- Smart irrigation and fertilization systems.
- Predictive analytics platforms for cooperatives.
- AI for animal welfare and precision livestock farming.
- To facilitate knowledge transfer among technology companies, farmers, cooperatives, universities, research centers, and government agencies.
- To create a space for networking and business opportunities, where technology providers and industry professionals can establish collaborations.
- Promoting sustainability, efficiency in the use of water, fertilizers, and other resources, as well as boosting the circular economy through smart tools.
Overall, ExpoSembraI 2026 aims to become a leading meeting point to demonstrate how artificial intelligence can improve the productivity, profitability, and sustainability of the agri-food sector, bringing these technologies closer to farms and companies of all sizes.
The panel: “How much does AI cost in the field? Real return, energy, and ROI for the farmer”
The AI euphoria clashes with the reality of the average Spanish farm: the cost of sensors, connectivity, training, and integration. This panel puts figures to the debate with real cases from Andalusia and proposes viable financing and return models.
At the heart of the discussion are very specific questions:
Can a cooperative with 500 members afford AI?
Who absorbs the energy costs of these models?
What subsidies exist, and are they sufficient?
This event is designed as a panel discussion, with individual presentations from the speakers and a cross-discussion with questions from the audience, moderated by a panel.
Date and time: Monday, September 21, from 12:00 to 12:30 p.m., in the Main Auditorium.
Anticipated panel members:
Samuel López: CEO of Plantae, “The intelligence of your field, in one click,” using sensors.
José Antonio Risquez Salas: Director of Innovation and Business Development at COVAP, an agri-food cooperative.
Maite Ambrós: Deputy Director General of Innovation, Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food.
Prof. Dr. Anna Gras: Director of the Agrixels Project, an agri-food data space, Polytechnic University of Catalonia.
Moderator: Enrique Quesada Moraga — Professor of Plant Production, University of Córdoba.
In the words of the Director of SembrAI 2026, Plantae represents the voice that lends credibility to this debate: a precision agriculture company that works daily with real farmers, using sensors, data, and AI applied in the field, and that knows firsthand what costs, what works, and what return it generates. As CEO of Plantae, his experience will bring figures and concrete cases to the table, which is precisely the spirit of this panel.
- Digitize agriculture with Plantae.
- Plantae Booth.
- Plantae Booth. SembrAI 2026
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