Meet Kiran Rajeev
“This job is very relevant to me. I was interested in going down this path because it benefits society and the need for food is growing – agriculture is booming,” Kiran explains when asked about what interested him in coming to work at Ground Truth Ag. “While I have mostly worked in manufacturing facilities, I have been involved in agriculture since childhood. My grandfather is a farmer.”
Prior to joining Ground Truth Ag, Kiran worked in Manitoba for close to a decade developing silencers for heating, ventilating and air conditioning units with the company he joined after graduating university. He then moved to a major manufacturer of vertical motorized inventory management, material handling, storage carousels and display solutions, designing a wide variety of storage solutions for them.
When asked about what excites him most about his work, Kiran mentions the level of collaboration he has with his colleagues and the innovative approach everyone brings to their roles. “Here at Ground Truth Ag, we are designing from scratch and nothing is defined,” Kiran explains.
“You have freedom and leverage – you don’t have anything in front of you stopping you. Everyone on the team is enthusiastic about being here and are able to put their two cents in and get their ideas to us,” he shares. “You don’t have to be an expert but instead think about things from a different angle - and I have the freedom to take that, bring it to life and then perfect that design.”
An excellent example of this is the development of the benchtop unit, which is the first product available for limited pre-order. “When I first joined, that idea wasn’t on the table. It’s a development that is helping to generate ideas that can be used for the on-combine unit - each is helping the other.
“The difference I’m seeing is the team – we are very energetic and have an experimental mentality,” Kiran explains. “We want to test every part of the design and are able to cross-check across different disciplines. Kyle and Divyesh are very present and so we are able to implement new ideas right away. As a startup company, this is the best attitude to have.”
When Kiran is not at work, his time is focused on his family. He and his wife recently welcomed their first child. With his family residing in Manitoba, there is a lot of back and forth to Regina for everyone. “We are also doing a lot of Facetime right now.”
