Harvest8 - Leadership and Story

A Legacy of Resilience

Harvest™ is rooted in a legacy of resilience, innovation, and disciplined execution. David grew up watching his father build a business under extraordinary circumstances. After losing his sight, his father continued forward with determination and focus, ultimately building a company that developed one of the first commercial wood chippers and grew into a land clearing operation exceeding one hundred million dollars in revenue. It was built through work ethic, mechanical ingenuity, and refusal to accept limitation.

When he passed, he left his estate to charity. What he left David was a conviction grounded in risk tolerance, discipline, and integrity. Those values shaped everything that followed.

From Field to Controlled Environment

Against considerable skepticism, David purchased his first farm under conditions widely considered impossible. Through calculated risk, operational discipline, and relentless effort, he built a large scale farming operation in the United States. Over time, the focus shifted from growing more to growing better. Questions of shelf life, structural quality, and distribution performance led toward controlled environment agriculture and precision harvest timing. Harvest8 represents that evolution.

Harvest™ leadership combines generational agricultural experience with structured food safety and operational infrastructure expertise. The team includes professionals with backgrounds in quality management, compliance systems, and food production discipline.

Leadership

Robert Sulatycky

Culinary and Strategic Development

Robert Sulatycky is a Michelin-recognized culinary leader with experience at world-class institutions including Four Seasons and Rosewood properties. A former head coach for Team USA at the Bocuse d’Or, he brings performance discipline and premium quality standards to Harvest. His expertise supports product integrity, consistency, and elevated agricultural execution.
Leon Rodriguez

Engineering and Automation

Leon Rodriguez is an Electrical Engineer educated at the University of California San Diego, with specialization in machine learning and control systems. His background includes designing technology architectures and developing computer vision algorithms that support autonomous decision-making systems. At Harvest, Leon applies his expertise in signal processing, data science, and automation to optimize cultivation systems, improve operational efficiency, and strengthen intelligent manufacturing controls within controlled indoor environments.
Sergio Rosas

Operations and Research

Sergio Rosas combines multigenerational agricultural experience with a research-driven operational mindset. With hands-on background in large-scale crop production and precision field operations, he supports process validation and system optimization across Harvest’s cultivation platform. His disciplined approach reinforces accuracy, accountability, and continuous improvement.
Andreas Rosas

Operations and Production

Andreas Rosas brings experience in culinary operations, agricultural production, and food-focused entrepreneurship. With a background in high-demand restaurant environments and large-scale crop management, he supports production execution and operational efficiency at Harvest. His cross-functional perspective strengthens the connection between cultivation performance and end-product quality.
Benjamin Cote

Founder and Executive Leadership

Benjamin Cote is the founder of Harvest and brings a systems-driven approach to modern agriculture and food production. With a background in food safety, compliance, and operational infrastructure through IQK Kitchen, he focuses on building disciplined, audit-ready cultivation platforms. At Harvest, he integrates biology, engineering, and structured quality systems to deliver extended freshness and scalable performance.