I am an Indian applicant with 7 years of experience in the Food Technology space. I plan to transition from Operations to Consulting and return to India post-MBA (immediate or after 2-3 years). Which MBA is right for a consulting career? Also, which post-MBA market would help me gain exposure in AgTech if I chose to join a consulting firm before returning to India?
Atul Jose (MBA Admissions Consultant, F1GMAT): AgriTech could mean different things for different consulting companies, but broadly it is the integration of Technology into the entire Agriculture ecosystem – input (fertilizer, seeds, soil), production (farming), distribution (supply chain), delivery (transportation) and packaging (retail).
The first data point to analyze the maturity or potential of a market is the fund invested by VCs. In 2021, $5B was invested in 440 deals – a 51% growth in investments compared to 2020. Pivot Bio – an AgTech technology company, continues to be the leader with the mission to capture Nitrogen from the air to maximize the plant’s growth. The company raised $430 million in Series D. Other emerging specializations include companies working on building protein-rich vegan sources, shelf-life extension technology, and commerce platforms.
As you can see, American AgTech has moved passed the input phase, with the bulk of the funding around the production, delivery, and distribution side of the ecosystem. This is not the case in India, where farmers still rely heavily on rains and temperature variations for the yield. Testing 800 crops in small batches doesn’t work in India, where the lands are scarce, and families continuing in the profession are diminishing rapidly. The Supply Chain has evolved due to the rising interest in bringing food directly from the farm to the table in cities.
If you plan to return to India, you must understand how the ecosystem will evolve in 1-2 years (duration of an MBA).
If you plan to gain some consulting experience in a different market, and the consulting office is offering projects specialized in a region, you will miss out on several opportunities to work on niches that would be relevant in India.
Top Consulting Clients: Within the diverse niches in Agriculture, the largest players are Bayer, BASF, and Syngenta, with traditional consulting firms also present in Agtech and Sustainable farming.
AgTech Daily Responsibilities (Consulting) (India): If you are working on improving productivity on the farm, the day-to-day responsibilities would include collecting data on crop yield, soil quality, and seeds, advising government/regulatory bodies on introducing processes/schemes/funding to improve the productivity of the entire ecosystem.
If you work in an evolved market like the US, the challenges are mostly around Technology and regulation on decoding the AI system that recommends crops and solutions.
For India, a large part of the engagement would also be around educating the farming community, building the digital infrastructure, setting up analytics, and suggesting the ideal crops based on monsoon forecast, soil health, and productivity. The solutions would also include improving water productivity and farming productivity with drone & satellite technologies (monitoring crops and soil).
So some form of technology integration would be part of any AgTech engagement.
All the top players in Consulting – BCG, McKinsey, and Bain, along with EY and Deloitte are present in the AgTech space. Read our analysis of the Best MBA programs for consulting placements to shortlist schools and MBA programs that would help you get into a consulting firm of your choice.
If you want answers to profile-specific questions and strategies, subscribe to F1GMAT’s Career Planning Service, or if the question is about the MBA application, start a conversation with me, Atul Jose (Founding Consultant, F1GMAT), through LinkedIn.
