Exploring the Transformative UK AI-Powered project BeefTwin

The BeefTwin project aims to transform UK beef farming by addressing sustainability and economic challenges through AI-powered digital twin technology. The project emerged out of the urgent need to address the real-life sustainability challenges faced by the UK beef farming industry. Beef farming, a significant contributor to global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, also suffers from economic inefficiencies and inconsistent beef quality. Additionally, social responsibility plays a critical role in sustainability, encompassing the triple bottom line of environmental, economic, and social (ESG) considerations.

To address these multifaceted issues, the BeefTwin project has brought together experts from various fields, such as biosciences, environmental science, agri-food systems, computer science, and management, to form a collaborative effort across multiple universities and academic institutions. Nottingham Business School leads the project in collaboration with the University of Nottingham, the University of Lincoln, the University of Sheffield, and Royal Holloway, University of London, along with industry experts. Professor Xiao Ma, Director of the Centre for Business and Industry Transformation (CBIT) at Nottingham Business School, and Dr Fatima Gillani, Senior Research Fellow at Nottingham Business School, spoke with the Association for Project Management (APM) about their involvement with the innovative project and what it means for project managers.

They said: “The project focuses on improving farming practices and promoting social responsibility by integrating AI and data analytics into its core objectives. This includes upskilling farmers, creating job opportunities, and ensuring ethical and sustainable farming methods are adopted industry wide.”

The BeefTwin project is being conducted through an interdisciplinary approach that combines AI, real-time data collection, and advanced modelling. Both the farm and each cow will have a digital twin—a virtual representation that replicates their value chain. This allows farmers to track behaviour, feed conversion, methane emissions, and resource allocation in real time. By simulating farming practices and making data-driven decisions, the project aims to improve sustainability, productivity, and social outcomes across the entire value chain.

Professor Ma and Dr Gillani continued: "The AI-powered digital twin provides insights into feed efficiency, methane emissions, animal behaviour, and resource utilisation, allowing for real-time adjustments to farming practices. This approach enables dynamic decision-making and simulates farming practices at a granular level, allowing for tailored solutions that address the real-life complexity of the agricultural value chain. These innovations have changed how farmers interact with technology, making precision farming more accessible and affordable for SME farms. AI and IoT have bridged the gap between theory and practice, providing actionable insights that improve farm operations sustainably and equitably across different scales of farming operations.”

Key lessons learned and mitigating challenges

Although the BeefTwin project only officially started in January 2025, Professor Ma and Dr Gillani have already received many valuable insights from the preliminary stages. These insights included:

• Benefits of Interdisciplinary Methodology
• Working Closely with Businesses
• Increased Community Engagement
• Scientific and Social Integration
• Transition from Traditional Practices to Data Driven Approaches
• Data Integration Complexity requiring constant Attention

Alongside these key insights, Professor Ma and Dr Gillani have both been anticipating and preparing for several potential challenges. The potential challenges include:

• Data Access and Integration: By establishing robust data management strategies, adopting standardised protocols where possible, and leveraging advanced data integration technologies the project will counter the issue where data interoperability isn’t feasible through standard approaches.
• Farmer Adoption: They are conducting extensive stakeholder engagement and identifying a few farms as “early-adopters”, demonstrating the benefits of precision farming and developing affordable, scalable solutions tailored to small-scale operations.
• Balancing Multiple Objectives: The project is employing design thinking, systems theory and involving stakeholders in iterative decision-making processes to ensure that solutions are balanced and contextually appropriate.
• Complex Supply Chain Dynamics: The project is fostering strong partnerships for value co-creation, open communication, and collaborative lean start-up style problem-solving approaches.

Project professional insights and takeaways

Project professionals can derive several critical insights and best practices from the BeefTwin project. Professor Ma and Dr Gillani believe that by incorporating the following principles, project professionals can drive more effective, sustainable, and innovative solutions, even in projects with complex, large-scale goals.

• Interdisciplinary Collaboration is Essential: Successful projects require collaboration across diverse disciplines. The BeefTwin project combines expertise and recognises the value of fostering cross-functional teams to approach problems holistically.

• Working Closely with Businesses/End Users: Engaging directly with businesses and end users across complex supply chains is crucial. Understanding industry challenges from wide range of actors first hand allows for the development of impactful, practical solutions. Project professionals should prioritise stakeholder engagement and collaboration to ensure the relevance and adaptability of project outcomes.

• Data Access and Integration: Managing and integrating data from various sources is a significant challenge. Establishing robust data management strategies early on is crucial. Project professionals should prioritise data access, integration, and security to ensure that the insights derived are accurate and actionable.

• Adoption of Agile Methodologies: The use of agile practices has proven invaluable in managing complexities and uncertainties inherent in large-scale, interdisciplinary projects. By iterating quickly, testing hypotheses, and responding to real-time data, the project team can refine solutions efficiently.

• Balancing Competing Objectives and Trade-offs: It's crucial to balance social, environmental, and economic objectives. Project professionals must be equipped to evaluate and prioritise competing goals, ensuring that solutions are feasible in the short run and sustainable in the long term.

• Investing in the Next Generation of Leaders: This process not only fosters leadership development but also ensures that the solutions developed today inform and empower the next generation. Project professionals can learn the value of integrating education and practical experience to cultivate future industry leaders equipped to tackle complex challenges.

• Managing Complexity through Systems Thinking: Understanding the interconnectedness of challenges—ranging from feed efficiency and methane emissions to farm profitability—requires a holistic view. Project managers can apply systems thinking to manage complexity better and identify interdependencies within their projects.