Product & technology leadership
Metal Dog Labs provides fractional strategy and operational leadership. I have two and half decades of shipping software & hardware in food, agriculture, and supply chain at Google X, Bayer, Amazon, and multiple startups.
I am a product manager, technologist, writer, and podcaster.
— Rhishi Pethe
A working thesis
We tend to overestimate the effect of a technology in the short run and underestimate the effect in the long run.
Strategic and operational leadership
Engagements range from a single half-day briefing to multi-quarter retainers. Every project starts with a call and a written clear scope
Most AI work in legacy industries dies in the pilot. The hard part is the data, the workflow, the change management, and a clear-eyed view of where AI actually compounds value. I help operators choose where to bet, what to build vs. buy, and how to ship.
Food, Agriculture, and Physical industries don't move at the speed of consumer software. I have experience working at and with the food and agriculture ecosystem, supply chains to translate digital ambition into systems that create value for your customers, investors, and employees
I have experience starting and running product management teams at multiple companies like Google X, Amazon, and Bayer. My product leadership has helped two startups exit, and one to spin out. I work closely with founders and product leaders building category-defining tools for the food-and-ag economy, and multiple supply chains.
Ways to engage
A focused session with your team on a specific question. Outcome: a written brief.
Two-to-four weeks. Deep dive on a use-case, market, or capability. Outcome: a strategy document.
Ongoing partnership with founders, executives, or boards as fractional executive. Outcome: a thinking & doing team member & partner
Selected engagements
Leading responsible GenAI benchmarking, farmer-facing AI advisory, agentic workflows, and industry collaboration for smallholder farming ecosystems in South Asia and Africa
Building an automated lettuce harvesting system (PRD, vendor RFI/RFP, tech selection) with the Western Growers Association, which beats human labor in terms of productivity, economics, and quality dimensions.
6 month fractional product leadership engagement for company pivot including discovery for pricing, packaging, product roadmap, and customer positioning
Landscape scan and due diligence on the use of AI in herbicide discovery to help investment decisions
Additional engagements with operators, founders, and investors available on request.
Research
I have published multiple white papers, and provide tailored, paid research for investors, agribusinesses, and startups. Full research archive →
A blueprint, drawn from four agriculture-focused organizations across cropping systems and regions, for how food and ag enterprises actually get value from generative AI.
Commissioned by Bayer Crop Science. Supported by Digital Green, Kissan AI, Traive.
Read the paper →A framework for AgriFood organizations on value identification, use cases, and how value is created — and captured — once GenAI moves out of pilots.
Commissioned by Bayer Crop Science. Supported by Digital Green, Kissan AI, Traive.
Read the paper →Why agtech software has struggled with adoption — trust, business models, and user experience — and where AI does, and does not, address those constraints.
Co-authored with Sarah Nolet and Matthew Pryor, Tenacious Ventures.
Read the paper →Tailored research
Tailored research and analysis for investors, agribusinesses, and startups — delivered as a paid service.
Get in touchWriting
One newsletter on food and agriculture systems through the lens of technology and supply chains. Another on the how, why, and when of automation and physical AI. Both are free.
Food and agriculture systems through the lens of technology with a focus on markets and marketplaces, business models, investment, sustainability, and scaling innovation. My writing draws on culture, history, sports, and tech trends to provide a strong POV in an engaging direction. My writing has been featured by Tyler Cowen, Conor Friedersdorf, Hollis Robbins, The Dispatch, Roots of Progress and many others.
A holistic look at the how, why (and sometimes why-the-hell-not?), what, and when of automation and physical AI — with a grounded perspective.
Speaking & media
Selected appearances from 2024–2025. For booking inquiries about keynotes, panels, or moderation, get in touch.
Multiple episodes hosted, including conversations with Walt Duflock & Sachi Desai (AgTech Alchemy), Christine Moseley (Full Harvest), Jeff Schreiner (Cultura Tech), Brad Fruth (Beck's Hybrids), Alex Wimbush (Lavoro Agro).
Co-hosted episodes on the history of the Green Revolution (Norman Borlaug, "The Wizard and the Prophet") and early tractors ("Tractor Wars" by Neil Dahlstrom).
On venture funding looking for problems to solve. With Walt Duflock, May 2025.
What seafood can learn about AI from legacy industries. December 2024.
Community
I love building community and bringing people together. I co-founded AgTech Alchemy with Sachi Desai and Walt Duflock. It is a community of operators, founders, and investors building the future of food and agriculture.
AgTech Alchemy is a network of operators, founders, investors, and technologists working on the future of food and agriculture. Monthly meetups give startups a stage, give the community a chance to help each other, and make the introductions that don't happen in slack threads.
We started small. Today the community has crossed 3,000 members and counting.
About
I've spent twenty five years building product and technology in the food and agriculture supply chain at Google X's Mineral, at Climate Corp / Bayer, and at Amazon.
Outside the practice, I write two newsletters, guest host podcasts, and speak regularly at industry events. I am a foodie, a big cricket fan, love going to standup comedy shows, visiting wineries, and listening to jazz.
Get in touch
rhishi@rhishipethe.com