ADVISORY BOARD
Aalt Dijkhuizen
Aalt Dijkhuizen was born and raised on a dairy farm. He graduated in Agricultural Economics at Wageningen University and holds a PhD from the Veterinary School at Utrecht University. He was a professor of Animal Health Economics at Wageningen University and left for private industry to become managing director with Nutreco, the then stock-based company active in animal feed, animal breeding and food processing. From 2002 to 2014 he was president and ceo of Wageningen University & Research and afterwards president of the Dutch Topsector Agri & Food. He serves on several supervisory boards of agribusiness companies and is highly involved in working with China. He was awarded Honorary Citizen of Fujian Province in China and appointed as Commander of the Royal Order of Orange-Nassau in the Netherlands.
Cynthia Zhu
Cynthia Zhu is active at the forefront of artificial intelligence (AI) in agriculture. Born and educated in China, Cynthia earned her degree in Business Economics. She has lived and worked in the Netherlands for almost 15 years and recently did her MBA in Strategy and Innovation at the University of Amsterdam (UvA). Her thesis research focused on the potential and acceptance of AI in Dutch agribusiness. See also Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cynthia-zhu-8294b58/.
With a solid foundation in both the telecom and agriculture sectors, Cynthia started her own business called ‘Agri AI’. Her company stands at the cutting edge of leveraging AI to revolutionize agricultural practices. Her work focuses on addressing the unique challenges within the agricultural sector, utilizing AI to enhance sustainability and operational efficiency. She is keen on exploring innovative ideas to implement into daily practice.
For those interested in connecting with Cynthia or learning more about her work in combining AI and agriculture, she can be reached at cynthia@agri-ai.nl.
Martijn Boelens
CTO at Lely
Martijn has a master in Mechanical engineering and started his professional career at Philips. After 10 years he switched to Lely where he is now CTO.
Martijn Boelens has been working at Lely for more than 25 years now. He started out as deputy director for production and then moved up to general manager of Lely Industries, among various other positions. Now, he has been Chief Technology Officer at Lely for more than 4 years.
Suzanne Verboon
FME & NXTGEN Hightech Agrifood
Suzanne has extensive experience with innovative projects and programs, both nationally and internationally. As Program Manager for Agriculture, Water, and Food at FME, she utilizes her passion for these sectors to accelerate solutions.
