French startup Hectar develops agricultural chatbot to aid farmers

French startup Hectar, which is engaged in several activities aimed at accelerating the social and economic transition towards regenerative agriculture, recently launched the first AI-powered chatbot dedicated to agriculture. This innovative tool is designed to provide farmers with a virtual assistant to aid in decision-making and daily farm management.

Co-founded by Xavier Niel and Audrey Bourolleau, Hectar aims to integrate artificial intelligence into the agricultural sector to enhance the professional lives of farmers by helping them manage their daily tasks more efficiently. “We want to demonstrate that artificial intelligence can bring tangible benefits to farmers by saving time on repetitive tasks and reducing mental load,” the founders expressed in a press release.

According to company statements, farmers spend an average of nine hours a week on administrative tasks. Hectar’s chatbot is intended to alleviate this burden, enabling farmers to focus more on their expertise and actively participate in agricultural transitions.

Hectar’s approach involves collaborating closely with farmers to identify priority themes and facilitate interactions with AI experts. The assistant will focus on operational use cases to assist farm managers with:

• Administrative burdens: Simplifying farm management with intelligent pre-filling to save time on low-value tasks.
• Succession planning: Providing operational, financial, and legal information to potential successors to secure the takeover process.
• Developing new operations: Offering knowledge and structure for creating new activities within a farm.
• Recruitment and retention: Improving hiring processes and managerial practices to enhance employee well-being, ensure smooth information flow, and address problems in a structured way, including inclusivity for non-native speakers or those less comfortable with written communication.