In the News & Media

From commodity price spikes to climate-driven supply disruptions, Helios AI is the data source journalists turn to when the market moves. Explore where we've been quoted, cited, and covered.

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The Iran War’s Other Energy Shortage—Food

The Iran war will constrain the supply not only of oil and gas but of food. Two shocks hit the global food system following American and Israeli attacks on Iran, but only one was widely reported. First, the Strait of Hormuz was effectively closed beginning Feb. 28, day one of the war. Second, on March 18, Iranian missiles struck Ras Laffan Industrial City in Qatar. In both cases, media coverage has focused on petroleum prices. That framing is dangerously incomplete.

Gates Foundation-funded pilot empowers East African coffee growers to manage climate change with Helios AI

Helios AI is helping East African coffee growers determine how to grow and when to sell their crops through a Gates Foundation-funded pilot project. COSA and Helios AI are working to ensure that coffee cooperatives have access to weather forecast information to inform their farming operations, the companies shared in a press release.

How Leaders Can Spark Broader Conversations On Climate Change And AI

In many cases, we are all already living in or soon will be living in a world shaped by AI and climate change. In the words of Francisco Martin-Rayo, Founder and CEO, Helios AI “Every decision we make as humans is already being shaped by climate change - or soon will be. AI is similar in that sense: it’s not something we opt into or out of. The real question is whether we use it to adapt intelligently or let it amplify existing failures.”

Cheap coffee is winning in grocery aisles — except when shoppers want Starbucks

"Coffee is once again a leading indicator of sticky inflation," Francisco Martin-Rayo, CEO and cofounder at Helios AI, an agritech startup that models food supply chain risks and agricultural prices, told Business Insider. Helios models indicate that rainfall in Brazil's Minas Gerais region is running roughly 25% below seasonal norms, compounding the effects of a prolonged drought on the industry.

Crystal Ball: Will the AI bubble burst or balloon in 2026?

Vertical AI becomes the survivor class of the AI cycle. If the AI bubble deflates in 2026, the companies that survive will be vertical AI platforms with real margins, real customers, and real proprietary data. —Francisco Martin-Rayo, Helios AI cofounder and CEO

New AI platform will predict ag supply chain disruptions

Helios Artificial Intelligence, Inc. launched the open beta of its platform that will identify agricultural supply chain disruptions ahead of time. The company’s founder and CEO says they’ve created a one-stop platform for agricultural importers to understand the risks to their supply chain and get ahead of their competitors.

Embracing the Power of Diversity in AI: My Journey as a Women in Tech

Our very own co-founder / CTO was recently featured in Startups Magazine! "When I first embarked on my career in AI, I wasn’t fully aware of the challenges or the triumphs that would come my way. What I did know was that I had a passion for data and a drive to solve problems that could make a real impact..."

AS FEATURED IN

Media outlets that turn to us on what's next.

Hunger Warfare and a Fertilizer Crisis Are Straining Global Food Supplies

Council on Foreign Relations | Michael Werz

Helios AI has developed a climate analysis showing that these conditions present a mixed climate risk, with three of four important crop regions forecast to fall below their seasonal norms. El Niño conditions are forecast to peak this winter, with high odds of them being the most significant system since 1950.

Why 2026 will be better for Brazils

Grape Tree Magazine | Ailsa Perez Ulecia

With Helios AI, we built a crop-specific Brazil nut model, mapping regions across Bolivia, Brazil, and Peru — forecasting weather risk months before harvest and flagging disruptions before they hit our supply chain.

Festive agrifoodtech vox pop part 1: From GLP-1 to continuous fermentation, what trends are founders tracking as we head into 2026?

AgFunder News | Elaine Watson

Francisco Martin-Rayo, cofounder and CEO, Helios: In 2026 I’m watching how verticalized AI reshapes agricultural forecasting and supply-chain resilience from hyper-granular climate-risk modeling to AI-driven procurement co-pilots that change how buyers make decisions.

Festive agrifoodtech vox pop part 2: From a funding ‘ice age’ to keeping up with AI, what keeps startups awake at night as we head into 2026?

AgFunder News | Elaine Watson

Francisco Martin-Rayo, cofounder and CEO, Helios: What keeps me up is the speed at which climate volatility is outpacing the industry’s ability to forecast it: extreme anomalies are becoming the norm, and most of the world is still flying blind.

Whatever the forecasts say, shoppers are treating this Thanksgiving like a budget holiday

Business Insider | Katherine Tangalakis-Lippert

Francisco Martin-Rayo, CEO and cofounder of Helios AI, an agritech startup that models food supply chain risks and agricultural prices, told Business Insider that the global food supply is facing a "triple whammy" of inflation, climate concerns, and tariffs all happening at once, resulting in price volatility.

Thanksgiving dinner costs by the numbers reveal what's cheaper, what's still pricey

Fox News | Deirdre Bardolf

"Mississippi, one of the country's top sweet potato producers, went more than 70 days without rain this summer, resulting in smaller-than-average roots and lower yields per acre," said Francisco Martin-Rayo, co-founder and CEO of Helios AI, which uses artificial intelligence to analyze agricultural and market data.

New data shows Thanksgiving dinner costs are down — what’s cheaper and still pricey

New York Post | Deirdre Bardolf

“Mississippi, one of the country’s top sweet potato producers, went more than 70 days without rain this summer, resulting in smaller-than-average roots and lower yields per acre,” said Francisco Martin-Rayo, co-founder and CEO of Helios AI, which uses artificial intelligence to analyze agricultural and market data. “The inflation baked into side dishes remains a real pressure point for U.S. households,” Martin-Rayo said, noting that processors and packers will particularly feel the squeeze.

Grocery anxiety nudges aside tariff policy, in win for consumers

Axios | Ben Berkowitz

President Trump's tariff policy was always in tension with domestic economic policy — the risk of higher costs versus the promise of lower prices — but as long as inflation remained under control, the tariffs mostly won out. With questions of domestic affordability now threatening the president politically, at least some tariffs are fair game.