Phytoform & AWS: Harnessing AI for Sustainable Agriculture

Walk into any supermarket and you will see the results of decades of agricultural innovation – glossy tomatoes, unblemished potatoes and shelves packed with produce from around the world. 

But behind the scenes, the food system is under strain. Climate change, waste and the need for more sustainable farming practices are pushing scientists and startups to rethink how our crops are grown.

One company at the heart of this transformation is Phytoform. Co-founded by Dr William Pelton and Dr Nicolas Kral in 2017, Phytoform is using the power of artificial intelligence and precision genome editing to create crops that are not only more resilient and nutritious, but also dramatically more sustainable. From reducing food waste to creating crops that can withstand extreme weather, their work is all about making farming smarter, more resilient and less harmful to the planet. With support from AWS’s Compute for Climate Fellowship, Phytoform is not just imagining a more sustainable future for food – it is building it, one plant at a time.

Redefining crop improvement with AI

Traditional plant breeding is a slow and imprecise process, often taking years to introduce a single beneficial trait into a crop, so Phytoform is taking a radically different approach. By combining advanced AI models – a proprietary machine learning technology called CRE.AI.TIVE – with genome editing tools like CRISPR, Phytoform can identify and introduce new genetic traits into crops with unprecedented speed and accuracy. This allows for minimal genetic disruption, targeting only the desired change while leaving the rest of the plant’s genome untouched.

“Gene editing tools like CRISPR are amazing, but you need some way to direct how and where you use them,” explains William, CEO and Co-Founder of Phytoform. 

“That’s what our CRE.AI.TIVE platform does – it’s an AI-led way to redesign crop genetics.”

Tackling food waste

One of Phytoform’s flagship projects targets the browning and bruising of potatoes – a process familiar to anyone who has watched a cut apple turn brown. This oxidation not only affects consumer appeal but leads to significant waste throughout the supply chain. 

“Every time a potato gets knocked or experiences mechanical stress, it creates that browning reaction,” says Will. “If too many are brown, they’re often thrown away.”

By reducing this, Phytoform’s potatoes can cut waste from farm to retailer.

In tomatoes, Phytoform has engineered a super-compact variety designed for indoor agriculture, requiring fewer inputs and up to 70% less labour. Additionally, it has developed a trait ensuring tomatoes detach cleanly from the plant during harvest, reducing damage and further waste.

These innovations address not just the symptoms but the root causes of inefficiency in food production. 

“We want to use genetics to reduce inputs – the footprint of agriculture – while improving resilience against climate change,” Will says.

Scaling impact across crops and borders

Phytoform’s ambitions extend far beyond potatoes and tomatoes. Its platform is designed to work across multiple species and varieties, enabling rapid deployment of new traits industry-wide. 

“We want to become a layer in the genetics improvement process, allowing companies to introduce traits much faster than with conventional methods,” Will explains. The company is actively seeking partnerships to expand into row crops and alternative plant proteins, aiming to boost sustainability across the agricultural spectrum.

However, regulatory hurdles remain, especially in Europe where genome-edited crops face strict controls. This has led Phytoform to initially focus on markets like the US, South America and Japan, where regulations are more favorable for genome-edited plants that do not contain foreign DNA.

How AWS’s Compute for Climate Fellowship is accelerating innovation

Central to Phytoform’s breakthroughs is the company’s involvement with AWS’s Compute for Climate Fellowship. 

“Phytoform’s CRE.AI.TIVE AI platform selects or invents new genetic traits to make crops more climate resilient,” says Lisbeth Kaufman, Head of Climate Tech Startups at AWS.

“We’ve helped them build and scale this model in the cloud, making it more robust and able to handle larger datasets and more plant types.

“We were really impressed by their innovative use of AI and the real-world impact of their work-reducing waste, improving yields and enhancing food security.”

The fellowship not only provides critical cloud computing resources but also technical expertise and business development opportunities. 

The future of sustainable agriculture

At its core, Phytoform’s mission is threefold: 

• Reduce the primary carbon emissions of agriculture by minimising inputs like fertiliser and fuel
• Limit environmental damage by reducing land use
• Support the sustainability of farming itself by improving farmer margins and making agriculture more attractive to new generations.

Will and his team are acutely aware of the broader challenges: “The average age of a farmer globally is 60. We want to develop technologies that benefit farmers, improve margins and allow them to focus on what they do best – without relying on heavy chemical inputs. Genetics is going to be a part of that solution.”

As the climate crisis intensifies, the need for resilient, resource-efficient crops has never been greater. Phytoform’s blend of AI-driven discovery and precise genome editing offers a compelling vision for the future of sustainable agriculture – one where innovation not only feeds more people but does so with a lighter touch on the planet.

To read the full article in the magazine, click HERE.

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