BUILDERS · 2026-08-04 · 23 min
Sabanto makes a retrofit autonomy kit that attaches to off-the-shelf tractors - converting machines farmers already own into autonomous systems capable of performing field operations without a driver. In this episode of BUILDERS, Craig Rupp returns three years after his first appearance to share what he's learned building the commercial motion for ag autonomy from scratch, in a market where no playbook existed. Topics Discussed: Why Sabanto chose retrofit over building from scratch - and why that decision defined their GTM Pioneering a farm-by-farm demo motion in a market where trade shows don't close deals Building Sabanto's 12-dealer network and why co-selling was non-negotiable in the early days Why change management is a product problem, not a customer success problem The Farmer Advisory Board: structure, mechanics, and why sales is never in the room What Monarch's collapse reveals about deployment pacing and investor-driven GTM pressure Craig's vision for smaller, redundant autonomy systems replacing $1.2M high-horsepower tractors GTM Lessons For B2B Founders: Count the change vectors your customer must absorb - then minimize them.
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