Jennifer Hartsock Is one of TIME's 2026 Executives of the Year: Tech and Data - Time Magazine

Jennifer Hartsock is leading digital transformation across one of the world's largest private companies, Cargill. Her approach to the food giant’s use of AI encompasses everything from analyzing the gut microbiome of chickens to translating handwritten farmer orders to using computer vision to help beef-plant workers capture more usable meat from cattle. Despite the company winning awards for these efforts, she says, “We don't have an AI strategy. I sort of bristle at AI strategies. We have a business strategy."

Before Cargill, Hartsock spent decades working in heavy manufacturing and oil and gas. Those experiences prepared her for the complex supply chains Cargill lives on, but her approach is people first. Since stepping into her current role in 2022, she has also shifted Cargill's IT staffing strategy, from previously outsourcing about 90% of roles to 60% now, with a goal of bringing more than half of roles in-house over the next year or so. "When you have people who care deeply about our purpose—and they don't have divided loyalties at all—you get better outcomes,” she says.