John Deere CEO: Farming's Future, Autonomous Tractors and AI in the Field
John Deere's transformation from a 190-year-old equipment maker into an AI-and-data company — cutting herbicide use 60% via computer vision, shifting to subscription-based farming technology, and targeting fully autonomous US corn production by 2030 — illustrates how legacy industrial firms are converting a technology shift into a business-model shift, not just a product upgrade.
Summary
Norges Bank Investment Management CEO Nicolai Tangen interviews John Deere CEO John May on the company's evolution into an advanced agricultural-technology company. May describes AI-powered computer vision that has cut herbicide use by 60%, a strategic shift toward subscription-based (rather than one-time-sale) farming technology, and an ambition to make US corn production fully autonomous by 2030. He also discusses navigating a prolonged farm-income downturn and rebuilding customer trust after the multi-year 'right to repair' dispute over Deere's control of its equipment's software and diagnostics.
Editor's opinion
Deere's shift is real and well-documented, but the underlying story — legacy industrial equipment maker becomes a subscription/software company — has been told about enough manufacturers by now (Rolls-Royce's 'power by the hour,' GE Aviation, Caterpillar) that it reads as a recognizable case rather than a new one. The right-to-repair angle is the most strategically interesting part: a live example of the tension between a subscription model's need for platform control and customer trust, which most 'AI transformation' narratives skip over entirely.
Key concepts
Subscription business-model transition · autonomous farming · right-to-repair