Acumind AI is on a mission to revolutionise farm safety

AFL great Justin Koschitzke and AI expert Leneila Lynne are on a mission to protect the health and wellbeing of Australia’s farming communities.

Justin Koschitzke spent years having an outsized impact on the footy field and now the AFL great is making his mark in the startup world with a tool to boost the health and wellbeing of farmers and their workers.

The St Kilda football club star and mental health advocate has joined forces with AI Adoption expert Leneila Lynne to create Acumind AI, a safety and training video platform empowering farmers and seasonal workers with accessible safety information.

The duo have been refining their strategy as part of the latest CivVic Labs challenge run by LaunchVic with Agriculture Victoria.

Acumind AI brings together Leneila’s expertise in digital marketing and artificial intelligence and Justin’s knowledge of farming communities to build a product that helps farmers solve their biggest safety challenges.

Farm safety information has typically been developed in analogue formats, but Leneila notes there’s a big opportunity to use new technologies to improve workers’ safety knowledge by unlocking each worker’s potential with training catering for different learning styles, especially with the high numbers of dyslexia in the ag space.

“I remember in school being totally disengaged because I wasn’t presented information in ways I could understand. I’m sure so many can relate to this. AI can be scary, as it moves fast, but it can be used for good also,” Leneila said.

“Our approach is actually empowering workers from the ground up. In turn, this will reduce fatalities, staff turnover, fines and also premiums.”

Acumind AI uses artificial intelligence to help farmers turn complex training information into digestible video modules, ensuring their workers not only understand crucial safety details but also retain the information, to help prevent serious injuries and fatalities. It’s also perfect for international CALD workers as the videos are multilingual.

Protecting workers with better safety information

It’s a mission that is deeply personal for Justin, who was raised on a farm in Southern NSW and has spent a significant portion of his post-football career working on mental healthcare advocacy in regional communities.

“I’m a pure country boy at heart and I love it. I love the morals of it, I love the hard work [of farming] and I really resonate with those communities,” Justin said.

He’s also deeply aware of the many challenges facing farmers, including a recent steep rise in on-farm injuries and fatalities.

“Farming fatalities doubled in 2024 – and I’ve seen it first-hand. I’ve seen horrific injuries on the farm, and I’ve seen fatalities on farms.”

Acumind is designed to help protect workers by providing clear, consistent and easily accessible content that employees can understand no matter their learning style.

“What we are trying to do is try to transform the text-heavy, outdated manuals that a lot of farmers are still using these days, and turn them into content that people can actually understand,” Leneila explained.

The videos can be delivered by customisable avatars – Justin himself has been “cloned” to present the tailored mental health content– and provide a resource that workers can revisit whenever they need it.

“The point of difference, and where we’re really going to make inroads, is that we can clone and deliver information in more than 150 languages,” Justin said.

It’s hoped this will help ensure that seasonal pickers and backpackers don’t miss any vital safety information if English isn’t their first language.

During their time on farm, Leneila and Justin have also seen first-hand how workers can be reluctant to ask questions when they don’t know how to do something – a trend that can lead to dangerous outcomes.

“They’ll try to work it out for themselves, but if it’s a dangerous situation, they’ll end up getting hurt,” Justin said.

Acumind AI’s videos are designed to help combat this problem by providing resources that workers can use to easily double-check safety information.

“It’s training on the go, and it’s accessible all the time.”

Bringing a great idea to life

Justin and Leneila have spent the first months of 2025 translating their vision for Acumind AI into a solid business plan through CivVic Labs and Farmers2Founders, a founder education program for aspiring ag entrepreneurs funded by LaunchVic and Agriculture Victoria.

“Six months ago, we had an idea. We had an exciting, valid, great idea, but this has really given us a road map and direction to help us bring it to life,” Justin said.

The first steps on that roadmap have included surveying farmers about what they would need from AI-powered content considering how other information, like mental health support, could be integrated into the platform.

“Some of the feedback we are getting is that there are just not enough mental health resources in these rural spaces,” Leneila said.

As well as refining their concept and planning their next steps, they’ve also connected like-minded agtech founders in the CivVic Labs cohort.

The experience has also served as a reminder of the importance of taking action if you want a startup idea to actually come to life.

“If you’ve got an idea and you really believe in it, just go for it,” Justin said.

“But an idea will always just be an idea without action.”

Beyond the program, they already have plenty of plans in the works, including searching for the first partners to commence pilot programs for the technology.

While they’re still early in the development journey, Justin says Acumind AI’s mission and use case is clear.

“We are going to go as hard as we can to open as many farm gates as possible. We believe in this, we know it’s the right thing,” he said.

“We know this is going to help productivity for farmers, we know it’s going to help employee retention, and we know it’s going to save lives.”