Meet the AgriBusiness Global Visionary Leaders for 2025 (Part 4)
30 April 2025 This is the final installment of a four-part series, as AgriBusiness Global honors the 20 selected AgriBusiness Global 2025 Visionary Leaders from the crop protection, plant health, biological, and ag tech industries. Nominated by our readers, these leaders exemplify foresight, flexibility, and innovation with the ability to see changes in the market and lead others to success through strategic thinking.
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ABG interviewed each leader to learn more about their business philosophies, strategies, and how they accomplish making their vision a reality. Below we profile Luis Hernandez (Cultiva), Francisco López (SynTech Research Group), SK Chaudhary (Safex Chemicals India), Zhang Hua (FUHUA), and Susan Dee (TrustChem). You can also view the entire series of our Visionary profiles here.
Luis Hernandez
Luis Hernandez
CEO
Cultiva
Luis Hernandez is a visionary leader who inspires and motivates a culture of innovation and cross functional teamwork, regularly assembling multi-department meetings to drive progress. Beyond his strategic mindset, Hernandez cultivates a spirit of cooperation and shared success, believing deeply in the power of relationships. Hernandez shared with AgriBusiness Global how he motivates his employees to understand and work toward a shared vision.
ABG: How do you motivate your teams to execute your vision? Do your teams give you feedback?
Luis Hernandez: One important element that allows our team to share the same vision is to give all staff an opportunity to spend time in the field.
For instance, last year we had our company meeting in central Washington (in the U.S.) where our entire team, from sales and R&D to admin and manufacturing functions, got a chance to interact with growers who use our products. When all of us witness and understand the agronomic value our products deliver firsthand, it gives purpose to what we do and keeps us engaged and motivated to do our best.
Having a company culture where people are encouraged to provide feedback is just as important to me. We are fortunate to have built a diverse team that shares a vision, and provide a setting where people feel comfortable to share their ideas and allow us to execute effectively, while remaining nimble and strategic.
Francisco López
Francisco López
COO EMEA
SynTech Research Group
Francisco López combines dedication, a strategic mindset, and an ability to drive meaningful change in building his career from intern to Chief Operating Officer. He helped establish an R&D center in Picanya, Spain, to support innovation and scientific exploration of biosolutions, ensuring his company remains at the forefront of sustainable and forward-thinking research. AgriBusiness Global asked López what practices he puts in place to be able to anticipate change and respond.
ABG: What kind of intel and support do you seek to respond to market changes? Can you give an example of how this has helped your company succeed?
Francisco López: To anticipate market changes and develop proactive solutions, I rely on a combination of market intelligence, regulatory foresight, and industry collaboration. A data-driven approach is essential, leveraging advanced analytics, industry reports, and forecasting tools to identify shifts in agricultural trends, sustainability regulations, and R&D investments in the agrochemical and biotechnology sectors.
At the same time, regulatory monitoring plays a crucial role, as our industry is heavily influenced by evolving policies. By working closely with legal experts, policymakers, and compliance teams, we ensure that we stay ahead of upcoming changes that could impact research methodologies and product approvals.
Beyond regulatory awareness, strategic partnerships with universities, research institutions, and industry consortia enable us to remain at the forefront of scientific breakthroughs and technological advancements.
Lastly, direct engagement with clients, industry stakeholders, and field researchers provides real-time insights into emerging challenges and opportunities, allowing us to refine our strategies and adapt to market needs with agility.
A few years ago, recognizing the growing shift toward sustainable agricultural solutions, we took a proactive step by establishing a separate business unit, SynTech BioSolutions. At the time, regulatory changes and market demands were increasingly favoring biological alternatives over traditional crop protection products.
By anticipating this shift early, we positioned ourselves at the forefront of innovation, offering cutting-edge bio-based solutions to our clients. This strategic decision has proven highly successful, allowing us to stay ahead of evolving regulations, strengthen partnerships with key industry players, and expand our service offerings in a rapidly growing segment.
SK Chaudhary
SK Chaudhary
Chairman
Safex Chemicals India
With more than four decades of expertise, SK Chaudhary navigated regulatory upheavals, supply chain disruptions, and market volatility, ensuring sustained growth and industry leadership. Anticipating industry challenges, Chaudhary led Safex Chemicals toward backward integration, securing self-reliance in manufacturing and fortifying supply chains amid global disruptions. His strategic decision-making has positioned the company as an agile, future-ready organization, ensuring consistent product availability and quality for farmers worldwide. AgriBusiness Global asked Chaudhary to share wisdom about keeping his company prosperous in the face of difficulties.
ABG: Over four decades you have kept your company growing even through economic downturns, geopolitical shifts, and other challenges. What three practices did you put in place to ensure your company’s success through hard times?
SK Chaudhary: I come from a background where inaction was never an option. We had to fight through every challenge, push forward despite the odds, and keep going until we surpassed our goals. This relentless drive is embedded in my DNA, and it is the very foundation of our company’s culture.
Growth is the synchronized effect of all our actions. Still if I have to highlight three key principles that have shaped our journey, they would be first, to cultivate a culture of challenge and growth. Growth does not come from comfort — it comes from constantly pushing boundaries. This belief is deeply ingrained in our company’s ethos and reflected in our motto: “Let’s fly together.” It signifies that stagnation or even walking is not an option, we have to fly together.
To sustain long and meaningful growth, one must always strive to go higher and higher, taking all stakeholders along.
The second practice is hiring the right talent with shared core beliefs. A company’s trajectory is defined by its people. While finding the perfect fit is rare, identifying individuals who align with the organization’s core values is critical. Skills can be honed, but a shared vision and unwavering belief in the mission create a workforce that propels the company forward.
The third practice is strategic diversification. Sustained success lies in adaptability and expansion. We have grown consistently by not limiting ourselves to a single market or domain. Our strategy has been twofold — first, deepening our expertise within our core verticals and then diversifying into aligned sectors. This approach has strengthened our resilience and ensured long-term growth.
These principles have been the pillars of our success, and they will continue to guide us as we chart new frontiers.
Zhang Hau
Zhang Hua
President
FUHUA
With a global vision to decipher industry fundamentals, Zhang Hua has anticipated industry trends and pioneered strategic deployments in emerging sectors at critical junctures. He established a digital+low carbon, dual-engine model for forward-looking resource integration, dismantling traditional boundaries. AgriBusiness Global asked Hua what practices move his company forward.
ABG: When thinking strategically about advancing your company, what three practices support you for making the best decisions?
Zhang Hua: The first is data-driven decision making. The agrochemical industry is highly influenced by scientific advancements, regulatory changes, and market trends. We place a strong emphasis on data-driven decision making. By utilizing digital platforms, we create efficiency in operations and rely on historical data to analyze potential risks in the production process, identify changes in market behavior, and optimize research decisions for innovation.
The second is sustainability and innovation. Innovation is key to long-term success, and sustainability ensures that we look beyond short-term results. When Fuhua makes strategic or practical decisions, sustainability and innovation are at the center.
The third is stakeholder engagement and scenario planning. The industry operates in a complex ecosystem, involving growers, regulators, distributors, manufacturers, and investors. We make decisions from the perspective of stakeholders, considering not only short-term returns but also the impact on the ecosystem that Fuhua may create. This helps us anticipate future market environments and plan accordingly.
Susan Dee
Susan Dee
General Manager
TrustChem
Susan Dee is the founder of the Trustchem Company Ltd. in Nanjing China. One of her strengths is her ability to pivot to find new solutions. She’s led her company through challenges by offering new strategies for ag chem inputs, biologicals, and nano technologies. She also is focused on strengthening relationships by supporting her customers through their challenges. AgriBusiness Global asked Dee to talk about strategies she’s used to grow her company.
ABG: What three strategies have you used to grow your company over the last three decades? How have relationships with associations helped your company?
Susan Dee: First, we emphasized continuous innovation and investment in research and development. By adopting advanced technologies and processes, we have improved production efficiency and quality, while reducing production costs.
Ultimately, this allows us to deliver superior products tailored to various market needs. We prioritize developing sustainable solutions to address ever-evolving agricultural challenges, ensuring our long-term relevance in the market.
Second, our customers are key. By deeply understanding customer needs, providing tailored support, and maintaining transparent communication, we build trust and loyalty. Whenever customers encounter difficulties, we proactively engage with them, offering diverse solutions and services rooted in the principle of long-term cooperation.
Beyond business interactions, we cultivate meaningful relationships, providing support in areas such as production technology improvement, design, and cost management.
The third point, we maintain close cooperation with academia and research institutions to drive industry trends and to facilitate the commercialization of innovative solutions. For instance, in collaboration with Jiangsu Academy of Agricultural Sciences (JAAS), we have successfully established production lines for biopesticides.
Industry associations have provided valuable platforms to showcase our corporate identity, products, and business philosophy to a broader audience. At the same time, we greatly appreciate industry associations for helping us establish credibility, share best practices, and create opportunities for collaboration, networking, and joint R&D initiatives with professional institutions.
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