The Woman Using AI to Build the Future of Agriculture: In Conversation with Detria Williamson

April’s Muse is a special Earth Day edition and Muse 54's first ever video interview. This month, I sat down with Detria Williamson, former Chief Marketing Officer at global design consultancy IDEO and Managing Director of Digital Transformation at Accenture Song, who is now channelling her decades of experience into building FarmBot, an AgTech startup on a mission to make smart, sustainable farming accessible to farmers worldwide.

Detria and I first connected on LinkedIn earlier this year, and after learning more about her journey, I knew immediately she would be the perfect voice for this edition of Muse 54. From originally wanting to be a doctor to evolving into a design-thinker, C-suite leader and founder, her career reflects the very essence of what Muse 54 stands for: curiosity, purpose, and building the kind of impact that outlives job titles. 

As someone who has led across design, marketing, technology, and now AgTech, Detria’s journey defines what it means to build a career that is a real life ikigai – the intersection of what you love, what you’re good at, and what the world needs. 

In this episode, we explore how curiosity fuels strong leadership, what it takes to build purpose-driven companies, and the innovative ways FarmBot is transforming agriculture. Detria also shares her ambitions to protect open field farms, elevate women farmers in Africa, and consumer knowledge about organic produce, alongside her candid perspective on the environmental footprint of AI. 

Did you know that some estimates suggest that a single AI query can consume 10x more electricity than a standard Google search? And that AI’s total water consumption could reach between 321.5 to 764.6bn litres – the same order of magnitude as the global consumption of bottled water (approx. 446bn)? In this conversation, Detria breaks down what this means in practical terms and shares simple steps individuals and organisations can take to reduce digital waste and build a more sustainable future.

Get to know Detria:

Born: Chicago, USA

If you had to describe FarmBot in three words, what would it be: Healthy, Intelligent, Sustainable

What's one startup myth you wish people would stop believing: It's not sexy, it's a lot of hard work.

What's the biggest thing you've learned since starting FarmBot: Providing that it adds to their bottom line, the farmers have been so open to new ideas compared to some people in other industries that sometimes succumb to the delusion of people's titles, (I also need a new wardrobe).

Song on rotation: If I Only Had a Brain by Judy Garland