When I take a moment to think about all the things that make me proud about working for Agronomix Software, at the top of that list has to be the diversity of our staff.
I first joined Agronomix when I was on my way back from Europe and ready for a change from the European approach to business. I had been seeking a fresh perspective and new opportunities with a Canadian company and was immediately blown away by just how diverse our staff is. We come from every part of the world. I’m from Latin America. Our founder is from Europe and Canada. Our president is originally from the UK, but has lived in Australia, Canada and France and we have staff from Africa and Asia.
When we all sit down together at lunchtime, there are so many different aromas coming from the staff’s meals. More importantly, everyone has their own experience and unique way of seeing things. At the end of the day, no matter how much our opinions may vary, we part as friends, picking up the conversation the next time we see each other.
These diverse cultural and professional backgrounds are a great asset when it comes to best serving our clients. I’ll tell you how. We have clients in Mexico and Argentina who prefer to communicate with me because I speak Spanish and come from a similar culture. There’s a shorthand between us. At the same time, we also have clients in India, a country I’ve never visited. When I was unsure how to best to communicate with them, one of our developers brought me up to speed.
Those kinds of insights are critical. We have five experienced plant geneticists on our staff
with expertise in quantitative genetics, molecular breeding, phytopathology, genomic selection, industry breeding and more. Although we didn’t hire any of them based on the region they’re from or the crops they’ve worked with, the benefit of having such a diverse group of PhDs on staff is that they have hands-on experience with a variety of crops that have been subjected to a range of growing conditions in several regions of the world. When a client contacts us with an issue, at least one of our staff will understand the problem because they’ve seen something similar themselves. It’s our secret weapon.
Our plant breeders also have a talent for translating our clients’ needs into language that our software developers understand. Those developers have never been in the field doing varietal selections and don’t know what type of data breeders need or how long it takes them to do certain things. Our breeders demystify all that, ensuring that we are constantly improving our software so that we deliver the best possible product with every release.
