From Pune to the World: Syngenta Highlights the Role of Engineering and AI in the Future of Agriculture at DevCon 2026
Syngenta’s DevCon 2026 Showcases How Engineering and AI Are Shaping the Future of Agriculture
More than 500 developers, data scientists, engineers, agronomists, product champions and digital experts gathered in Pune from September 2–3 for Syngenta’s DevCon 2026, showcasing emerging technologies, sharing best practices and exploring how artificial intelligence (AI) can help transform agriculture worldwide.
Held under the theme “Sharper Together,” the annual event highlighted the importance of collaboration in developing digital solutions that help farmers make better decisions, improve productivity and advance more sustainable agricultural practices.
Hengde Qin, Global CEO of Syngenta Group, and Feroz Sheikh, Chief Information Digital Officer, opened the event virtually. They shared their perspectives on the growing role of digital technologies across Syngenta’s business and emphasized the importance of AI and agentic development in driving future innovation, operational efficiency and value creation.
As Syngenta continues to expand its capabilities as an AgTech company, DevCon 2026 reinforced the importance of engineering excellence, AI-enabled development and knowledge sharing in building the next generation of agricultural technology.
“Agriculture faces increasingly complex challenges, and technology has a critical role to play in helping farmers navigate them. DevCon is more than a technology conference. It is a platform where our global engineering community comes together to learn, collaborate and innovate,” said Andre Piza, Global Head of Digital AgTech, Syngenta.
“By combining strong engineering practices with the power of AI, we are building solutions that have real-world impact on farmers and strengthen the future of agriculture,” he added.
Pune Emerges as a Global Digital Agriculture Hub
The scale of Syngenta’s digital operations in Pune highlights the city’s growing importance to the company’s global technology strategy. More than 90% of the digital agriculture solutions developed by Syngenta’s Pune-based technology teams support farmers and agricultural stakeholders across international markets.
The Pune centre brought together 250 developers from across India at DevCon 2026, creating a platform for technology professionals to exchange ideas, share expertise and collaborate on solutions for global agricultural challenges.
“The theme ‘Sharper Together’ reflects our belief that innovation happens when great minds learn from each other and raise the bar collectively,” said Salil Bongale, Global Head – IT & Digital, Pune Centre.
“Bringing together 250 developers from across India creates a powerful community of problem-solvers focused on advancing digital agriculture. From Pune, our teams are contributing technologies that support farmers across the world, demonstrating how engineering excellence can drive global impact,” he added.
Collaboration and AI at the Core
Through technical showcases, peer-learning sessions and discussions on AI-enabled software development, DevCon 2026 highlighted the growing role of engineering communities in shaping the future of agriculture.
The event demonstrated how Syngenta’s technology teams are moving beyond traditional software development to create digital tools designed to help farmers strengthen resilience, improve productivity and support more sustainable agricultural practices.
With AI, engineering excellence and collaboration increasingly shaping the AgTech landscape, DevCon 2026 underscored Syngenta’s focus on building digital capabilities that can be developed at scale and deployed across global markets.
