“Holy cow, there's this big gap. There's this big gap of not having that data at the ground level of farms. The big ag companies only can get so far. They don't know exactly what's happening on the ground with soil and crops and pests and disease and so forth.” In this episode, I sat down with Tom Gauthier , a former nuclear, biological and chemical specialist with the US Army and the CEO of AgTechLogic . Tom doesn’t just talk about precision spraying trends or sugar coated aspects of entrepreneurship —he pulls back the curtain on what it's really like to build a mission-driven agtech company from the ground up, while staying grounded in both his military roots and a practical, field-based understanding of farming. In this episode, we break down how Tom and his team are combining chlorophyll fluorescence sensors with real-time data capture and AI-enhanced analytics — not just to spot-spray weeds, but to identify things like standing water, detect disease early, and even feed actionable intel back into the supply chain. We get into questions like: How did Tom’s prior work as a chemical engineer with Proctor and Gamble influence his path into agtech? Why won’t cameras alone be sufficient for addressing a growing host of weed and disease related problems? Can chlorophyll fluorescence sensors do more than just detect green weeds against a brown, dirt background? You’ll hear how AgTechLogic’s precision spraying systems are helping producers save hundreds of gallons of crop protection products per application. This is a candid conversation about earning trust, staying adaptable, and leading with humility. Let’s get into it.
