"Headlines promised that AI would transform every corner of business. Venture capital poured into the sector. But hype doesn't always translate into real-world use—especially in industries that aren't built to adopt change quickly. Food procurement, where billion-dollar decisions hinge on weather patterns and multiyear contracts, not to mention generational relationships and personal rolodexes, is one of those industries. In a space where legacy companies tout decades of experience, newness isn't always a boon."
"Cersi was conceived as a conversational assistant. Type a question about your supply chain into a chat box, and she would pull from Helios's massive dataset to provide a rich, insightful answer. It sounded futuristic, and on technical merit, it worked. But the glaring problem was, it didn't fit the way our customers actually worked. First, they didn't want to "chat." Procurement executives, commodity traders, and risk managers wanted structured, decision-ready insights."
In September 2023, Helios AI launched a generative AI agent named Cersi to help food companies assess climate risks to agricultural supply chains. Cersi worked technically, using Helios's dataset to generate insightful answers. Adoption remained low because the conversational chat format did not match procurement executives', commodity traders', and risk managers' need for structured, decision-ready outputs for slides and emails. Users repeatedly asked the same five questions, showing preference for repeatable, standardized analyses instead of open-ended chat. Food procurement's reliance on multiyear contracts, generational relationships, and established expertise slowed change despite AI hype and venture capital. Technical advancement alone did not drive adoption.
Read at Fast Company
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