Bushel is empowering agronomists to connect with farmers more easily through an AI-powered chatbot, Buddy, which can quickly surface client data to users.
Bushel revealed the chatbot at its Buddy Seat Conference in June and is currently alpha testing the feature, Benny Andres, VP of product at Bushel, told AgTechNavigator. Buddy is accessible to select Bushel users through the company’s customer relationship management (CRM) portal, with a beta and general release slated for later this year.
Agronomists can use Buddy to access actionable customer data by simply asking the chatbot various questions, Andres explained. For instance, users can ask Buddy questions like “How many customers have past due invoices,” or “Which customers have open contracts?” Bushel shared in a press release.
“What we heard ... from those customers using the CRM is that we really need something that marries up the interactions we are having with our farmers ... with the business transaction data that we have. So, how much grain has been contracted with this farmer last year, or what are the past two invoices that I have with this specific farmer?” Andres elaborated.
Building a chatbot isn’t as simple as finding an API
Bushel built Buddy with large-language model (LLM) APIs that hook into the company’s CRM, Andres said. The APIs proved to be a good building block, but the AI struggled to make certain calculations, Andres explained. “LLMs are not that good at math, which is shocking,” he admitted.
“We are having to build [math functionality] specifically into our APIs and help it make those types of math decisions and determinations, so when you ask that question, the LLM knows where to go to get the information. But maybe that math is being done in a different table or an API in the background, and it is just pulling the answer for you,” he elaborated.
Streamlining the ‘messy middle’ of ag
Bushel is exploring ways to expand the chatbot’s functionality, while executing against a larger product roadmap for its CRM platform. The software company could provide farmers access of the chatbot, offering similar functionality to growers who have questions for their agronomist, Andres said.
“A farmer could [have] similar functionality, where they may want to query or ask questions about their own data within the customer portal they are using, and Buddy could help surface that data quicker or give them insights quicker. So, we have tossed that idea around,” he elaborated.
Additionally, Bushel is optimizing financial workflows between farmers and agribusinesses, having released a digital wallet for farmers to open Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation-backed business banking accounts, Andres said.
Bushel’s CRM was designed to streamline the “messy middle of the supply chain” between agribusinesses and farmers, digitizing paper processes that are still being used today, including paper agreements and payments, he noted.
“When a farmer contracts their grain, we have created this automated e-sign workflow where a farmer agrees to contract grain, [and] it automatically sends them a contract for e-signature,” he added.
