With technology, we’re changing the way food is produced: Britaldo Hernandez of Solinftec

“We are obsessed with solving our clients' problems and overcoming the challenges of agribusiness.”

In 1998, while working at a research center in Cuba, Britaldo Hernandez, founder and CEO of Solinftec, traveled to Brazil to explore the leading sugar industries with the intention of creating an exchange program. During his visits to Cosan, now Raízen, and Clealco, Britaldo identified an opportunity for further growth and innovation in the sector, despite the presence of competent technological advancements. This realization motivated him to initiate informal projects in the sugarcane fields, with a specific focus on telemetry-based machine monitoring. In 2007, Britaldo founded Solinftec with six other like-minded partners.

Solinftec is a global company that has become a leader in artificial intelligence services and robotics for agriculture. The company has a mission to revolutionize large-scale food production and is committed to offering cutting-edge solutions like ALICE AI and Solix Ag Robotics.

The Solix Ag Robotics robot works in conjunction with the ALICE AI platform to give farmers a new level of real-time information.

Solinftec’s North American headquarters is located in Lafayette, IN.

The Silicon Review reached out to Mr. Hernandez, and here’s his response.

Interview Highlights

Q. What methodology does Solinftec implement to exceed customer expectations?

Through practical observation, we have been proposing simple, technological solutions to the challenges of our clients' management routines. Our first achievements at Solinftec resulted in significant reductions for clients and partners. They helped improve agricultural production through technology, regardless of the degree of difficulty of the situation in the field, while also ensuring the preservation of the environment.

Producers, whether in sugarcane, grains, horticulture, or any other segment of agriculture, are always concerned with being more efficient and sustainable. A series of indicators shows that Solinftec solutions increase the efficiency of processes on farms.

Setbacks are a part of every growing business. Tell us about a few roadblocks and learning lessons that helped Solinftec grow through the years.

Starting a business always presents a set of challenges. In our initial stages, securing reputable suppliers for electronic components, ensuring both quality and cost-effectiveness, was imperative due to the substantial demands from our major clients at Solinftec. Simultaneously, assembling a proficient workforce capable of adapting to evolving client requirements was essential, leading to the establishment of a specialized after-sales team dedicated to pioneering new solutions.

Over time, we cultivated robust partnerships with distributors known for their exceptional service and provision of high-quality raw materials. Furthermore, our journey has been shaped by the dedication of our team members, fostering the development of a competent leadership team. Sustainable growth means being attentive to demands as they arise. Solinftec is strong in its management, and we are focused and committed to continuing to professionalize the company and its processes.

Q. As a global Ag-Tech company, what are Solinftec’s key focus areas?

Our solutions currently serve the sugar-energy, grain, perennial crops (forestry, citrus, coffee), and horticulture segments, but there is always room to operate on new fronts.

Q. Can you introduce us to your solutions? What are their main features?

Last year, Solinftec included the Solix Ag Robotics robot in its portfolio of solutions for large-scale food production. Through its Scouting, Sprayer, and Hunter solutions, the robot offers 24-hour crop monitoring, the rational use of agrochemicals (through target-spraying of herbicides and the elimination of insects with attraction via light waves and electroshock), and sustainability in agriculture. The robot works by combining tasks with integrated pest management (IPM) in crops; in other words, it's another option for producers. With Solix, clients in the American corn belt have reduced the volume of herbicides used in the season by more than 95%.

We integrate IoT and artificial intelligence. Through IoT, the robot captures data in the field, while artificial intelligence uses data to make recommendations to producers. We must keep in mind that producers need to make many decisions every day, and despite the advances in digital agriculture, they have a lot of information to analyze. In addition to monitoring (with the robot), we recommend ALICE, the next choice during the operation. This saves time and inputs and produces much more.

Outside the United States, close to 36,000 pieces of agricultural equipment are monitored online, and 150,000 users interact daily with Solinftec's artificial intelligence in the Americas. More and more clients are using ALICE, the world's first virtual agricultural assistant, which is making farms increasingly autonomous. Our technology is fully adapted to production and works by integrating monitoring, productivity, traceability, and logistics to guarantee maximum profitability of the crops. This is why we serve more than 12 million hectares throughout the Americas.

With technology, we are changing the way food is produced.

Q. What strategies do you have in place to encourage innovation in your company?

Agribusiness dynamics has to do with technology. We are obsessed with solving our clients' problems and overcoming the challenges of agribusiness. We are agile and eager to solve problems and streamline processes, always finding the best solutions for more efficient and sustainable production. People who work at Solinftec are happy because they have this "spirit"—it's embedded in the company's DNA. Innovation flows naturally at Solinftec. Sustainable growth means being attentive to the demands as they arise, and this is intrinsically present in the Solinftec team.

Q. Can you provide us with one or two success stories describing the challenges your clients faced and how Solinftec helped them overcome those challenges?

We can start with our Solix robot's track record this year in the United States. Approximately 20 robots toured the American corn belt in 2023 and proved the effectiveness of the Sprayer solution by reducing the volume of herbicides used in American crops by more than 95% and eliminating weeds in their early stages through target spraying. Co-Alliance, Carroll, and Premier Ag have completed tests with Solix robot units and confirmed the benefits generated by the sprayer solution for their crops. These partnerships are expected to increase Solinftec's footprint in the United States fivefold.

Britaldo Hernandez | Founder & CEO

Britaldo Hernandez, 56, has a degree in Automatic Control Engineering from Instituto Superior ISPJAE in Havana. In Cuba, he worked for more than 15 years at Centro Nacional para la Producción de Animales de Laboratorio (CENPALAB), where he began his career as an intern, working his way up to the positions of microcontroller programming engineer, deputy director of technology, and vice general director. In 1998, he went to Brazil, and through his doctoral thesis, he developed a project that would later become Solinftec.

Britaldo has an aggregating profile, understands the importance of his team's work, and cares about each and every one of his employees. Britaldo says that nothing is done at Solinftec that isn't useful to producers and that people need to be happy doing what they do for clients on a daily basis. He also describes himself as someone who wants to change agribusiness and the world. He wants to do this through his purpose, which is to develop sustainable technology to help feed the world with less impact.

“We integrate IoT and artificial intelligence. Through IoT, the robot captures data in the field, while artificial intelligence uses data to make recommendations to producers.”

“Our technology is fully adapted to production and works by integrating monitoring, productivity, traceability, and logistics to guarantee maximum profitability of the crops. This is why we serve more than 12 million hectares throughout the Americas.”

“Our solutions currently serve the sugar-energy, grain, perennial crops (forestry, citrus, coffee), and horticulture segments, but there is always room to operate on new fronts.”

“We must keep in mind that producers need to make many decisions every day, and despite the advances in digital agriculture, they have a lot of information to analyze. In addition to monitoring (with the robot), we recommend ALICE, the next choice during the operation. This saves time and inputs and produces much more.”