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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
ST. LOUIS, Oct. 22, 2026 — 9 North Group, an independent firm of senior agrifood operators, today launched the Agrifood GenAI Directory, a free, searchable catalog of 900+ generative AI assets built for agriculture and food. Available at 9northgroup.com/aifieldguide, the directory helps agrifood companies see whether a product already exists for their need, gives developers data, models and code to build with, shows innovators where gaps remain and helps publishers get their work discovered.
“AI can help the agrifood industry get innovation to market faster, but only if teams stop starting from scratch on every build,” said Dan Kurdys, who leads AI Growth Systems at 9 North Group. “There are far more generative AI tools built for agriculture and food than most people realize. They're just hard to find, and the terms of use are often unclear. The GenAI Directory puts them in one place so teams can spend less time searching and more time innovating.”
Generative AI assets for agrifood are multiplying quickly, but they are hard to find. Many live outside traditional product websites, in model libraries, code repositories and research collections. 9 North Group’s research found no consistent way to discover assets for a specific workflow, no shared standard for what makes an asset ready to test or use in a business, and no common method for comparing performance across assets.
The directory is designed around four ways people across the agrifood value chain can put it to work:
- See if a product already exists. Farms, advisers and food and ingredient companies can check what is available for a specific job before paying for a pilot or a custom build.
- Find things to build with. Developers and in-house teams can find datasets, models, code and connectors built for agrifood, rather than starting from scratch.
- Find gaps where something new is needed. Entrepreneurs, startups, researchers and investors can see where coverage is thin and where a new solution could meet a real need.
- Get discovered. Publishers can list their assets for free, on the same terms as everyone else, so the people who need them can find them.
Users can search by asset name, publisher, technology, problem or job, then filter by job family, intended user, asset layer, commodity, access or deployment mode. Each entry describes the asset, the work it supports and how to access it, with source links and check dates. The directory is free to browse and free to be listed in, with no account required. Users and publishers can suggest additions or evidence-backed corrections at 9northgroup.com/ai-field-guide/suggest-a-listing.
To build the directory, 9 North Group reviewed publisher websites, code and model platforms, research portals, government lists and industry awards. Each candidate was screened against the same inclusion rules: it must be relevant to agriculture or food and to generative AI, be currently accessible to outside users, be supported by a public source with a recorded check date, and represent one distinct asset, with duplicate listings consolidated.
9 North Group began this research for its own client work, to get a clearer view of the generative AI and agent assets available to agrifood companies. The GenAI Directory makes that view public and is the first resource in the firm’s Agrifood AI Field Guide, with additional resources planned.
“Every AI project we take on starts the same way: finding out what already exists before anyone builds anything,” said Sarah Pierce, co-founder and partner at 9 North Group. “We built the GenAI Directory to do that step well, and we’re making it public so more of the industry can move from concept to impact faster. The Directory shows teams what already exists. From there, we help companies connect selected assets to their own knowledge and judgment, define what a successful outcome looks like and measure whether the work leads to real improvement.”
About 9 North Group
9 North Group is an independent, St. Louis-based firm built by a team of senior agrifood operators. The firm helps agriculture, food and ingredient companies grow by creating, launching and scaling what’s next. Its goal is to help innovation move from concept to impact faster. Through its AI Growth Systems practice, 9 North helps companies put AI to work where it grows the business. That means finding the right pieces, building in the expertise their people already have, making the system reliable and proving it pays off on real work. Clients can build with their own engineers, a preferred vendor or 9 North. The firm’s Commercial Growth Systems practice helps companies bring new innovations to market efficiently and effectively, often using AI to speed adoption. Learn more at 9northgroup.com.
Media Contact
Carly Scaduto
Carly@9northgroup.com
