By Alex Tyink
President, Fork Farms
At Fork Farms, we believe everyone deserves access to fresh, nutritious food, no matter their zip code. As a planet-and-people-first company, we’re building a future where food is grown locally, sustainably, and equitably. Our hydroponic growing systems – the Flex Farm and Flex Acre – enable schools, hospitals, nonprofits, and businesses to grow food on-site with 98 percent less water and land than traditional farming. They’re compact, efficient, and built for controlled-environment agriculture, making it possible to grow fresh produce year-round, anywhere.
As we grow our company and continue to innovate on our systems and mission, we are utilizing artificial intelligence (AI) not as a novelty, but as a critical tool to scale impact, remove barriers, and democratize access to fresh food.
AI to Grow Fresh Food
We have been working hard to find a natural fit for AI in our work, and we are particularly proud to announce FlexWise.AI, our new proprietary AI system developed through the Microsoft AI Co-Innovation Lab . FlexWise.AI will allow anyone, regardless of background or experience, to run a commercial-scale hydroponic farm. The system walks users through everything from farm status and task management to anticipating potential issues and staffing requirements. It even provides a built-in troubleshooting workflow.
AI is also transforming the way our systems grow food. Embedded sensors in the Flex Acre monitor key environmental factors, including temperature, humidity, and pH, in real time. When paired with AI, these tools can optimize growing conditions, improve consistency of plant growth, and reduce resource waste.
Why does this matter? Many organizations want to grow food at scale to feed as many people as possible, but the anxiety behind the complexity of indoor farming, staffing, plant health, and just getting something wrong holds growers back. FlexWise.AI and other AI tools remove that fear. They can help us simplify and streamline operations, making high-yield vertical farming as accessible as opening an app.
AI Use at Fork Farms
Fork Farms is also leveraging AI behind the scenes.
We see AI as an opportunity engine. By using a custom stack of tools to discover, research, and connect with mission-aligned organizations across the country, we can move our tech into the communities that need it the most. By quickly identifying places struggling with food access, we can learn how Fork Farms can best support them. This saves time and accelerates impact.
Internally, we encourage our employees to integrate AI thoughtfully into their work, as it can be a powerful tool to help our team do their best work, from drafting program plans to analyzing financial models. Used responsibly, it boosts productivity on all levels of the company, without replacing jobs or compromising quality. Every thoughtful step we take as individuals helps our company meet our mission’s goals: to empower more communities with transformative technology, education, and collaborative partnerships to cultivate fresh, sustainable food, anywhere by anyone.
AI in the Future of Fork Farms
In 2025, we will launch two more breakthrough hydroponic growing systems that utilize Fork Farms’ patented technology. One is a turnkey, off-grid solution, called the Flex House, that brings food production to areas with limited infrastructure. The second is a new automation platform, built in collaboration with Rockwell Automation , offering full environmental control of indoor farming locations with minimal labor.
Together with FlexWise.AI, these innovations allow anyone, anywhere, to grow fresh food at scale and with confidence. Our partners define the need and we build the solution.
AI won’t solve food insecurity on its own, but when paired with people-centered systems, it becomes a force multiplier. It helps us reimagine what’s possible for communities everywhere, and we are in the business of supporting communities. The future of food is sustainable, local, tech-enabled, and it’s being built right here in Wisconsin.
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