Contech Talks: Peter Olsen, Sr. Product Manager, John Deere

We recently had the opportunity to sit down with Peter Olsen, Senior Product Manager for Jobsite Automation at John Deere, to discuss his extensive history with the company and what excites him most about the future.

Olsen, who has been with the renowned equipment manufacturer for nearly 30 years, reflects on the early days of his career when computers were still considered “cutting-edge.” Today, he and his team are focused on Artificial Intelligence (AI) as a key area of development at John Deere.

Olsen outlines three main areas where John Deere aims to leverage AI in tools and equipment:

1. Sensing
2. Automation of tasks and data
3. Insight generation

However, Olsen cautions that while AI has advanced rapidly, its practical adoption within the construction industry may take more time. Concerns about the security of personal and sensitive data, as well as the potential impact on jobs, are contributing to this slower uptake.

If we don’t understand the workflow, we can cause more complexity

Want more?

Are you interested in how the evolutions of equipment and robotics is going to create a large-scale impact across the construction industry? Sign up for our Tools, Equipment and Robotic Research Track to get multiple annual benchmarking reports detailing how some of the leading manufacturers and end users are viewing and leveraging technology to revolutionize the way we use equipment on jobsites.

If you are more interested in how artificial intelligence and machine learning as a whole will change the industry, we have a research track for that as well. Sign up for the AI/ML Preparedness Research track and also join us in Atlanta, GA February 5-6 for our AI/ML Conference to hear from experts over the course of two days of programming geared at getting you and your company up to speed on all things AI.