Employer description & source details
Relevant professional background: 10-12 years of experience in agriculture, rural development, or a closely adjacent field, with a track record of scaling programs to reach large numbers of farmers. Deep sector knowledge: real depth in Indian smallholder agriculture, including farmer contexts, state-level agricultural systems in more than one state, relevant government ministries, and the ecosystem of implementing organizations and research institutions. Building & maintaining relationships: brings an established network across government, research, and implementation in Indian agriculture, and has also succeeded in forging new relationships rather than only maintaining inherited ones. Uses discretion, reads the policy decision process accurately at both state and central levels, and is trusted. Strategic thinking: sees the gap before it is named, and can hold an ambitious direction and a realistic view of constraints at the same time. Moves between operational detail and portfolio-level logic without losing either. Experience standing up a new program, venture, or state operation from scratch. Forward-looking on AI: genuinely energized by what AI can do for farmers, current on what is actually working, and motivated to figure out what that looks like in the Indian context. Brings hypotheses, not just processes. Builder instincts: Experience standing up a new program, venture, or state operation from scratch. Low ego, no task too small, and willing to do the operational and analytical work personally at this stage. People management: has built teams that were cohesive, motivated, and mission-driven, and can point to people who grew under them. Clear communication: translates technical information into common language, and writes and presents compellingly for government,
Extracted skills: artificial intelligence, operations