Creating a More Equitable World Through AgTech with Sam Masanari Lambert

“I have had two really important people in my life. 

My father is a former banker, and throughout his career he has been a teacher as well. He used to run lectures and he always found time to teach and pass on his knowledge and pay it forward.

The other person was one of my mentors at University. I got paired up with a Professor, he used to be a board member at the Reserve Bank and from day one he just took me under his wing. 

Which was odd as I look back on it, I was a 17 year old who didn’t really know much. But he basically mentored me throughout the four years that I was at the Australian National University studying economics. 

He shaped my curiosity around learning and the world. 

So for me, giving back and educating is something long term that I am really working towards.

There’s a lot of work that needs to be done to get there, but I hope to be able to do that one day.”

Sam Masanari Lambert is driven to create a more equitable world. 

He is the Co-Founder of zenGate Global where they believe everyone should have equal access to technology and innovation and it will become more and more important for things like traceability in import markets.

They are striving towards inclusive opportunity for all and believe they can do it through scalable modules, like their ‘Palmyra.App’, which helps ‘underserved agricultural commodity producers’ as Sam describes it. 

But what does this actually look like? Well, as an example, Sam explained that in Australia we have a really seamless payment and banking systems, but not everywhere in the world can say the same, like in Sri Lanka. Through the Palmyra.App, they are working with Sri Lankan tea producers to connect sellers and buyers of tea, and process the transactions. 

He has seen this first hand on his travels around the world to places like Sri Lanka and understands how accessing technology can lead to benefits in businesses and communities. Sam has commenced plans to have zenGate Global expand throughout Asia and Europe next. 

We chatted to him online and he joined us from Japan where he currently lives. He’s been there spending time with his Grandmother since 2022 and he loves it! 

Images provided by Sam Masanari Lambert.

Q and A:

HOA: What made you apply to be an evokeAG. Future Young Leader?

Sam: A lot of working and living experience is in Australia, but mostly my customers and projects that I run are outside of Australia. So I am always looking for ideas and research on how to bring it all back. 

So I was looking for opportunities available at AgriFutures and stumbled upon their evokeAG. website. And then I totally went down a rabbit hole. 

Matt Anderson was on the website and I recognised him. Turns out we went to High School together and so I reached out to him and asked about his experience in the program. 

He responded saying how helpful and beneficial it was and thought, ‘That’s it, I am going to put an application in.’ 

I knew I was a bit of an odd case because I was outside of Australia but it turned out okay and I am super excited to be part of the program.

HOA: What is your project about?

Sam: From market to market there are lots of different issues that emerge with agricultural producers. Some of the smaller to medium size businesses don't have access to basic technology, whether it was too expensive or they didn’t know about it. 

In areas like Sri Lanka it’s a lot more accentuated than other areas. It was core infrastructure that was lacking, like understanding how exports are done and taking cross-border payments.  

The point was that there were big gaps where basic technology was missing, so we started working on that. So that’s what my project is on, giving access and know-how to agribusinesses around the world on technology and innovation. 

For myself and my voice, this is an opportunity for me to come out and create my own brand and message about things that I am interested in.

A lot of it is adjacent to the work I do, mostly to do with opportunity inclusion and access to technology. 

My mentors in the past have been academics and educators. I think being able to share the stuff we have been working on in an articulate and succinct way is something that is really important to me. 

It’s important for the farmers in Australia and other parts of the world as well, so this is a platform for that opportunity.

HOA: What are you most looking forward to in the evokeAG. Future Young Leaders Program?

Sam: You never know who you are going to meet and when you are going to click, whether it be policy makers, other innovators… It’s this whole ecosystem of experts and you don’t know where the path will take you with these things… You don’t know what you don’t know.

HOA: What has surprised you about the evokeAG. Future Young Leaders Program so far?

Sam: The thing I was quite surprised by is the emphasis on storytelling and the structure around it. 

There’s an art to getting your story out in a succinct, articulate manner and using your voice really effectively is a really powerful tool.

HOA: What is your biggest challenge of being a evokeAG. Future Young Leader?

Sam: Getting feedback from peers is really honest, it’s hard, but it’s a challenge I am quite excited about and I can’t wait to deliver what I’ve been working on in February at the event.

Copyright: Leon McDonnell.

Sam was selected for the evokeAG. Future Young Leaders Program, “designed to build the capacity of emerging leaders from across Australia, New Zealand and the Asia Pacific while providing a platform to share their key messages, innovations, research, stories, and passions for Australian rural industries and the value chain, to deliver, develop, adopt and export agrifood innovation to the world.”

Future Young Leaders get to showcase their ideas on stage at the conference. But not before they develop and refine their idea through an intense mentoring program and workshopping in the lead up to the event.

We’re excited to be heading to evokeAG. in Perth on February 20-21, 2024. We’ll be spending more time with the Future Young Leaders so keep your eyes, and ears peeled for more.

Sponsor shoutout:

Our #FutureYoungLeader stories are proudly sponsored by 2024 AgriFutures evokeAG.