One Platform to Rule Them All?

By: Mikayla Mooney

Is AgTech’s Next Wave: Point Solutions, Not Platforms

At recent agtech conferences (and it has been a plethora over the last 2 months), a recurring theme has surfaced: the market is crowded with point solutions, and the call is growing louder for a central platform with API integrations to bring everything together. Perhaps AI agents could be the missing link that finally unifies all these disparate systems?

On the surface, the idea of bundling is appealing. Simplicity, efficiency, and “one platform to rule them all.”

But agriculture isn’t the same as consumer markets, where bundling things like cable TV packages or McDonald’s Happy Meals makes sense. Farmers don’t want bulk; they want…well what do farmers ACTUALLY want is maybe a the most important question?

We’re not in an era of more. We’re in an era of choice, customization, and clarity. Across sectors, unbundling has reshaped entire industries:

• Media: Cable gave way to Netflix, HBO, and Prime Video.

• Banking: One banker became separate apps for investing (Robinhood, Webull, Coinbase) and payments (Venmo).

• Education: Degrees splintered into micro-courses (Udemy, Masterclass), coding bootcamps, and niche platforms.

Consumers are increasingly demanding customization, precision, and autonomy. And I think we may be on the precipice of one of the biggest unbundling waves in tech history.

The Case for Bundling

Bundling is powerful because it creates convenience. Think of Microsoft Office: Word, Excel, and PowerPoint work seamlessly together, and for most users that’s enough. In agriculture, a bundled solution could mean fewer logins, smoother data flows, and one dashboard for acres, animals, and supply chains. For those managing multiple acres, animals, or supply chains, one dashboard could sound like a dream.

It’s no surprise that investors, integrators, and some startups argue bundling is the way to unlock adoption and scale. But lets look at an example of how that actually played out…

FBN: The Bundled Giant That Farmers Tolerated, Not Loved

Farmers Business Network (FBN) may be the most visible example of bundling in AgTech. What began as a data-sharing co-op evolved into a sprawling platform. They started offering input sales, financial services, crop marketing, insurance, and more.

The idea was straightforward: do everything for the farmer.

But feedback from farmers has been lukewarm to it’s a dumpster fire. Why? Because in trying to do everything, the platform struggled to do anything exceptionally well.

Many farmers felt locked into workflows they didn’t choose, overwhelmed by features they didn’t ask for. FBN built a bundle. What farmers really wanted was a toolkit.

So that raises a question: is vertical integration in AgTech a strength, or a liability, when it comes to user experience?

Can AI Agents Be the Bridge?

AI agents might be the tool needed to shift towards a more bundled solution...Imagine a digital assistant that moves seamlessly across your seed management software, your animal health tracking, and your financial records. Pulling data together without forcing everything into one rigid platform.

Instead of one platform to rule them all, we may see one layer to connect them all. That layer doesn’t eliminate point solutions; it enables them to coexist while reducing friction.

And if you look at Y-Combinator’s last few batches of startups, the signal is clear: AI agents are being built as scalpels, not sledgehammers. Each solves one job exceptionally well. Compliance automation, inventory forecasting, contract parsing, and only later earning the right to expand.

If agtech follows suit, I imagine it looks like startups focused solely on doing one thing well. Optimizing manure value, automating grain pricing, or streamlining sustainability audits. Many seed-strapped startups are already heading this direction. Raising just enough capital to solve one clear problem, reaching profitability, and growing organically from real customer pull.

That’s the wedge strategy (and perhaps the best strategy): start precise, win trust, then grow organically.

The Drift Toward Bundles

So why do so many startups drift from wedge to bundle? Pressure…

The wedge strategy works. It builds trust by solving something tangible. But somewhere along the way, usually post-Series A, the pressure to scale kicks in. Growth becomes the priority. More products, more features, more revenue lines. Bundling feels like the natural path. For context, FBN has raised a cumulative $944M.

But too often, it dilutes value. What was once sharp and indispensable becomes bloated and generic. And that’s how we end up with a graveyard of AgTech failures. Companies are chasing competitors, investor demands, and perceived market gaps. They lose their edge instead of deepening their core offering.

The Investor Tension

From an investor’s perspective, bundling can look like a dream.

We love vertical integration. We love upsells. We love increasing average contract value (ACV). More features mean more revenue, stronger LTV:CAC (Lifetime Value: Customer Acquisition Cost), and a stickier customer story for the next raise.

But I’ve started to rethink things….

Bundling is great for value capture. But if it’s done too early, it can undermine value creation. When startups add too many features before the core product is dialed in, clarity fades. Adoption slows. Retention suffers. And ironically, the expansion we were chasing becomes harder to reach.

This isn’t an argument against integration. It’s a callout that we need to be mindful of timing and intention.

Are we expanding because the customer asked us to, or because the spreadsheet said we should?

Precision earns trust. And trust earns permission to expand. That progression can’t be skipped, no matter how good it looks in a deck.

So the real question is: are we expanding and integrating because farmers asked us to…or because the spreadsheet said we should?

What If AgTech Looked More Like a Toolbox Than a Tractor?

If we embrace unbundling, what might the market look like?

• Point solutions that can be layered and swapped as needed.

• Flexibility valued over fidelity to a single platform.

• Data flowing more freely. Not because it’s regulated, but because the market demands interoperability.

And for the players that bet big on bundling? Some may adapt. Others may fade.

Where I Land

I don’t believe agriculture will ever have one dominant platform. The problems are too diverse, the preferences too personal. Bundling will happen in pockets, but integrations will matter more than lock-in.

Some operations genuinely want simplicity. And with the rise of AI point solutions less can be more, if it’s the right less.

The future isn’t a super-platform. It’s a network of specialized tools that talk to each other. Smart connectors, open APIs, or maybe AI agents.

Bundling and unbundling aren’t opposites in AgTech. They’re happening simultaneously. The winners will be those who understand how to balance the two, without losing focus on value.

I don’t have all the answers...But I keep coming back to one thing: we need to deliver value, then earn the right to expand and it needs to be on the farmer’s terms.