Will Artificial Intelligence be a Performance Booster to Agritech Start-Up?: Empirical Evidence from Emerging Economy

Abstract

Indian agriculture is in the period of transition from traditional to modern agriculture. The role of various technologies in solving contemporary global issues is inevitable in any business sector, likewise in agriculture. This research work attempts to understand the impact of one such technology, Artificial Intelligence (AI) on the agricultural value chain. Quantitative research methodology is followed in this research work and data is obtained from the agri companies that use AI for their operations and decision-making. A conceptual model is also developed for this purpose. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) methodology is adopted to understand the relationship between barriers, benefits, and the future of AI and the performance of the agri value chain. Hypotheses are developed for this purpose and tested based on the data collected from agritech companies. The result obtained proves that the benefits of AI and the future of AI have a positive impact on the value chain performance which in turn have a positive influence on organizational performance. However, it is found that barriers to AI adoption do not have much influence on adopting it and on the value chain performance of agritech companies. One of the major contributions of this research work is that it would be useful to the practitioners/Government in framing policies on implementing technologies in the agricultural sector.