Amazon Veteran Mark Keller Joins AppHarvest

AppHarvest has named Mark Keller, an Amazon veteran, as its new SVP, Software Applications Platform.

Keller is an Army Veteran who has over 25 years building technical organizations. He launched Amazon’s first four large-scale Kiva robotics sortable warehouses and previously ran the company’s one-hour fulfillment centers.

“The Holy Grail in agriculture is predicting and managing yield and quality,” AppHarvest founder and CEO Jonathan Webb said in a statement. “Having Mark join will accelerate our efforts as we train our intelligent robot, Virgo, to harvest multiple crops—ranging from tomatoes and cucumbers to more delicate fruits such as strawberries—as we move toward more AI-informed growing.”

The technology group is working on making farming more sustainable by reducing water usage, investing in robotics, artificial intelligence and proprietary seed genetics.

“Two of the most pressing global concerns are water scarcity and creating resilient food supply, and AppHarvest is solving for both,” Keller said. “As a father of four, I want to leave a strong legacy for my children and leverage technology for good. The foundation AppHarvest is building will give controlled environment agriculture the opportunity to restructure the food landscape to mirror the hyper-efficient ecommerce landscape.”

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