Johannesburg, 11 Feb 2025
Nithen Naidoo, CEO and founder of South African global cyber security technology provider Snode Technologies, is scheduled to speak at the ITWeb AI Summit 2025, shedding light on large-scale AI projects that reflect the difference this emerging technology can have in various sectors.
One of these sectors is agriculture, which Naidoo says is a proactive adopter of AI and machine learning (ML) technologies.
This aligns with Snode Technologies’ own proactive approach to leveraging this technology to empower its customers.
The company has coupled cyber defence capability and technology with AI and IOT to offer its market a comprehensive offering that supports streamlined adoption and application of AI, but also protects intellectual property, data and other assets.
Snode Technologies is unique in the sense that it quickly fused cyber defence with its AI proposition – earlier than many operators in other industries and sectors, according to the company.
Against this background, Naidoo will illustrate the company’s capability, expertise and product knowledge used in a large-scale project involving the implementation of AI and IOT at a leading agricultural company in the Philippines.
AI-drivenagriculture
In 2020, Snode Technologies undertook a project to help its client – an early adopter of predictive analytics – apply IOT sensors to crops and connect to a grid of IOT sensors. Data was captured and available in real-time to help farmers and other stakeholders in agriculture identify any issues with the crops, from the pigmentation of leaves to crop spray management and other factors that speak to the health of the harvest.
The client needed a solution that could be easily implemented and seamlessly capture, store and update data.
Snode Technologies was approached to help with a model for predictive analysis, which could address challenges normally associated with agriculture and guarantee competitive advantage.
“Before the integration of IOT sensors to provide this insight, the client faced losing up to 20% of the harvest to diseases. Combining AI and IOT, the client could generate valuable data and ensure a 15% increase in output and control market conditions (like disease, crop spraying, etc) and ensure better price control,” Naidoo continues.
Moreover, Snode Technologies addressed the critical issue of security to ensure its client did not inadvertently expose intellectual property or data.
The need to consider security and risk in the quest to adopt AI is of growing concern in the market.
Smartagriculture
According to Snode Technologies' executive leadership, the Philippines has moved into the era of smart agriculture, a sector that has evolved and where traditional anti-virus offers limited protection.
There are other examples of how this sector has embraced emerging technologies like AI and ML.
“Today, we have drones that can be pre-programmed and prompted with the right information to enable them to spray crops with the right solution at the right time, and the correct amount. This is all based on data analysis driven by AI,” Naidoo adds.
Using this case study as a basis, Naidoo and his team from Snode Technologies will delve into examples of how transparent, ethical and responsible AI can add value to economy-driving sectors like mining, retail, manufacturing and agriculture.
“One of the lessons we learnt from our client in the Philippines is that they were willing to embrace AI, and apply the analytics, data extraction and more, but never thought these resources could be at risk from a cyber security point of view."
Naidoo will also shed light on aspects of risk management and AI that defines the market today, including red teaming.
Red teaming is a process whereby ethical hackers conduct a simulated cyber attack to test the efficiency of a business’s cyber security posture.
Having been exposed to various large-scale AI projects globally, Snode is going to share lessons learnt from both the client's perspective and its own.
The ITWeb AI Summit 2025 is scheduled for 13 February at The Forum, Bryanston, and Naidoo looks forward to using the platform to engage with a large audience of technology professionals, business leaders, academics and internationally renowned expert presenters.
Naidoo will provide insight into several sub-themes:
- What made some clients successful and others fail in their early adoption of AI.
- Where clients were successful, what lessons were learnt to improve the chances and timeline to success.
- Why was Snode Technologies called in to secure and protect these AI projects.
- What does the future hold for defensive AI applications and offensive (misuse of) AI capabilities.
Click here for more information and to register.
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