Over the past three decades, few industries have transformed as rapidly or as intelligently as dairy. For Polly Vander Wal, Senior Engineering Operations Manager at Agropur, the evolution has been nothing short of revolutionary. What began as a career shaped by hands-on production and traditional processes has grown into one defined by automation, data, and now, the rising potential of Artificial Intelligence.
Polly equates today’s AI moment to the dawn of the internet. When she entered the dairy business 30 years ago, the internet didn’t touch daily operations. Now, it’s woven into every corner of the industry—and she expects AI to follow the same trajectory. From predictive maintenance to fully connected facilities, AI will soon act as a catalyst for smarter, safer, more efficient dairy production.
But technology alone doesn’t define progress. Polly emphasizes that the biggest shifts she’s witnessed are the rise of automation and the scale of modern facilities. Automation has elevated both precision and safety, while larger production environments have helped Agropur meet growing demand more efficiently and strategically.
Navigating the balance between daily operational needs and long-term innovation requires discipline and intention. For Agropur, this means a thoughtful approach to every new process, product, or customer. Whether integrating new equipment or redesigning facilities, Polly’s team evaluates innovations through the dual lens of business goals and customer impact.
Cross-functional collaboration also plays a vital role. One of Agropur’s most transformative initiatives has been its multi-year ERP integration—an effort sparked by acquisitions and driven by the need for a unified operating system. While not flashy on the surface, it has reshaped how teams work together, connecting everything from milk intake to outbound product. That connectivity, Polly believes, is paving the way for future innovation across the organization.
Looking ahead, Polly sees immense opportunity in the next generation entering agriculture. These young professionals bring fresh energy, technical fluency, and a proactive mindset toward emerging technologies like AI. Their perspective will help shape systems that are not just smarter, but more adaptable in a world where change is constant.
To Polly, Ag Smarter means taking the proven fundamentals of food productionand making them better—smarter tools, smarter methods, smarter decisions. It’sthe evolution of the tried-and-true, ensuring we continue to feed a growing worldwith efficiency and intelligence.