IFAMA Announces New President

IFAMA is pleased to welcome Aidan Connolly to the presidency.

Aidan is President of AgriTech Capital LLC—an advisory resource for both new and established companies working at the interface of agriculture and technology. His firm helps governments, fortune 500 food companies and large agri-businesses develop their agtech strategies to improve productivity, efficiency, and sustainability. He also holds other industry positions, including at McKinsey & Company.

While launching Agritech Capital, Aidan also served as the Chairman, and later CEO of Cainthus (2015-2022), a computer vision and artificial intelligence company specializing in monitoring key farm management practices that impact the health, welfare, and sustainability of livestock. Prior to that, he spent 28 years with Alltech, a global nutritional supplement supplier focused on animal health. Aidan has lived in six countries, worked in over 100, and held many leadership roles at Alltech, eventually as its Chief Innovation Officer.

Aidan is not a stranger to IFAMA. He joined the Board for two terms ending in 2017. He is a frequent contributor to the International Food and Agribusiness Management Review and he was elected an IFAMA Fellow in 2015.

“IFAMA is a unique organization,” says Connolly. “It provides a meeting place for decision makers, policy shapers and academia, which makes it best positioned to address the biggest issues facing food and farming, regenerative production, digital disruption, and human capital,” he said.

Aidan has advocated for the urgency of talent development in the agriculture sector for nearly two decades. He has spearheaded capacity building programs for young professionals and is a principle at Kincannon Reed—the world’s leading food and agribusiness executive search company.

“I am excited to build on the progress IFAMA has made in recent years and look forward to working with IFAMA’s Young Board and the early career members,” said Connolly.

Aidan holds an adjunct professor of marketing at the Smurfit School of Business, University College Dublin, the China Agricultural University in Beijing, and North Carolina State University in the USA.

He contributes to a wide range of publications in agriculture and business, including Forbes. In 2022 he published his second book, The Future of Agriculture, a collection of essays highlighting the latest trends and challenges that are rapidly reshaping agriculture.

Connect with Aidan on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aidanjconnolly/.