RIYADH : As governments and businesses around the world look for new ways to strengthen food security, entrepreneur Afzal Hussain Mohammed Nakheeb believes the next major breakthrough may not come simply from producing more food, but from improving the infrastructure that connects food with markets.
Speaking during Money20/20 Middle East in Riyadh, Nakheeb, Founder and Chairman of T57.AI, argued that the global food system remains highly fragmented across agriculture, trade, finance, logistics, compliance, payments and technology.
“Food security is not simply about producing more food. It is also about whether food can actually move efficiently from where it is produced to where it is needed,” Nakheeb said.
His argument is that between a farmer and the final market sits a complex chain of buyers, financial institutions, logistics companies, warehouses, regulators, customs authorities and technology systems. A failure or delay at any one of these points can affect the entire transaction.
This is the problem T57.AI is attempting to address by developing digital infrastructure for global food trade and food security.
The company is currently in operational beta. Entrepreneur Middle East recently reported that T57 has partnerships and trade corridors spanning 67 countries and has piloted its model across five countries, completing 34 consignments.
AI alone is not the answer
Nakheeb also believes the growing role of artificial intelligence in agriculture and food trade needs to be approached differently.
“Food is global, but agriculture is hyperlocal,” he said.
Even within Saudi Arabia, agricultural conditions can vary substantially between regions. Climate, water availability, soil, rainfall and local farming experience all influence what works on the ground.
AI can process satellite information, weather patterns, prices, supply-and-demand signals and other large datasets at a scale that humans cannot. But Nakheeb argues that farmers, traders and local operators also possess knowledge that may never be fully captured as data.
This has led him to advocate what he describes as AI + HI: Artificial Intelligence combined with Human Intelligence.
“Technology can give us intelligence at scale, while people bring context, experience and judgment. The opportunity is to bring the two together so that we make not only smarter decisions, but wiser ones,” he said.
Connecting food and finance
The connection between food security and financial infrastructure was also a focus of Nakheeb’s participation at Money20/20 Middle East.
During the panel “Can I Trust You With My Money? The Psychology of Financial AI,” he joined Ilya Kravtsov, Yasar Ahmad and moderator Yana Prikhodchenko to discuss trust, human oversight and accountability as AI becomes increasingly involved in financial decisions. The official Money20/20 programme described the discussion as examining what decisions consumers may delegate to AI and what systems of consent, explanation and human intervention will be required.
Nakheeb’s comments on the panel were subsequently carried in wider media coverage:
“AI should advise us and provide the right information, but humans should use that information to make wiser decisions.”
He added that humans should remain involved in evaluating information, making final decisions and maintaining accountability.
For Nakheeb, the same principle applies to global food trade.
Technology may help institutions assess risk faster, connect buyers and sellers, improve visibility across supply chains and make financing more efficient. But technology needs to operate alongside human knowledge, trusted institutions and real-world execution.
“The future of food security will not be solved by one technology or one part of the supply chain,” Nakheeb said. “The bigger opportunity is connecting what already exists so that food, capital and information can move more intelligently across borders.”
