Ken has 20 years’ experience in applying technology to global food supply chains using computer vision and AI. At 36 he was appointed CEO of Compac, New Zealand’s largest agri-tech company and one of that country’s largest technology exporters.
He got his start in R&D where he developed early AI products for automatically sorting the quality of horticultural products, moving into general management to scale the business to become the world leader supporting most of the world’s major food brands, with operations in over 80 countries. Most recently he was Senior Vice President at TOMRA, the company that acquired Compac, where he was responsible for global operations of its food division. It is highly likely that today you have eaten fresh food that was inspected and sorted by one of these products.
Ken holds degrees in both Philosophy and Engineering and enjoys the outdoors. He was born in Ireland, lived for 10 years in South Africa before spending a large part of his life in New Zealand. He has spent 9 years on the West Coast of the USA and has recently relocated to Los Angeles with his partner and two boys.