John Deere revealed the next evolution of its AI strategy at the 2026 Farm Progress Show (FPS) — a chatbot called JD — built on top of the ag machinery giant’s existing tech capabilities, like John Deere Operations Center.
Available first in mobile and desktop apps, JD allows farmers to ask questions to a chatbot via text prompts about their operations. For example, a farmer can ask the chatbot what the most efficient machine running is, or ask for a comparison in performance between different machines.
Also, John Deere is testing the best way to bring the AI assistant to its G5 displays so farmers can access the chatbot inside the cabin, Jackson Baca, group product marketing manager, digital foundation at John Deere, told AgNavigator during the OEM’s tech day on Aug. 31.
The JD assistant is the next step in John Deere’s broader AI roadmap, which started in 2025, when the company digitized its operator manuals and documentation, serving as the basis of John Deere Equipment Mobile’s AI assistant. Over time, John Deere will bring the two AI assistants together into a single experience, Baca noted.
“We don’t want a scenario where customers are engaging with multiple JD AI assistants. We want them to engage with one AI assistant underneath JD — that’s the vision,” Baca elaborated.
JD is “a true AI assistant, and that’s because it’s got the user interface that’s already embedded where our customers already use and analyze their data,” Baca added.
How one Minnesota farmer uses JD
As part of the JD reveal, John Deere shared a video on how a farmer was using the technology to analyze his farm data in order to make better farming decisions.
Owner and operator of Minnesota-based Feikema Farm, Shawn Feikema, explained that JD can take all the data that is collected on the farm and make it easier to search and find.
“Since JD, I type a question, and it just basically takes a little bit, compiles a bunch of data, [and] kicks me out an answer. It allows me to make a decision faster, and in today’s world everything happens faster and faster and faster. It just allows a whole other level of analysis that we’ve had before, but you didn’t have the infrastructure to make it worthy of your time to go look for it,” Feikema elaborated.
Farm Progress Show attendees can visit John Deere at outdoor lots 144 and 153 to learn more about the AI chatbot.
