Plant diseases pose a significant threat to global food security, affecting crop yield, quality, and overall agricultural productivity. Traditionally, diagnosing plant diseases has relied on time-consuming visual inspections by experts, which can often lead to errors. Machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI), particularly Vision Transformers (ViTs), and Convolutional Neural Networks, offer a faster, automated alternative for identifying plant diseases through leaf image analysis. However, these models are often criticized for their “black box” nature, limiting trust in their predictions due to a lack of transparency. Our findings show that incorporating Explainable AI (XAI) techniques, such as Grad-CAM, Integrated Gradients, and LIME, significantly improves model interpretability, making it easier for practitioners to identify the underlying symptoms of plant diseases. This study not only contributes to the field of plant disease detection but also offers a novel perspective on improving AI transparency in real-world agricultural applications through the use of XAI techniques. With training accuracies of 100.00% for ViT, 96.88% for EfficientNetB7, 93.75% for EfficientNetB0, and 87.50% for ResNet50, and corresponding validation accuracies of 96.39% for ViT, 86.98% for EfficientNetB7, and 82.00% for EfficientNetB0, our proposed models outperform earlier research on the same dataset. This demonstrates a notable improvement in model performance while maintaining transparency and trustworthiness through interpretable and reliable decision-making.

Entrepreneurship has long been recognized as a key driver of economic development, traditionally centered on business creation and the strategic actions of individuals aiming to realize their entrepreneurial visions. Central to this process has been the business plan, often viewed as a critical blueprint that outlines the vision, strategies, and operations of new ventures. However, recent studies and observations have raised concerns regarding the continued relevance of business plans, suggesting a shift in entrepreneurial behavior. In response, this study adopts a novel approach by using artificial intelligence (AI) to explore entrepreneurial practices more rigorously. Written feedback from 150 entrepreneurs was analyzed using natural language processing (NLP) techniques, allowing us to move beyond subjective assessments and anecdotal evidence. Our study utilized a structured twenty-question survey to capture the experiences and insights of entrepreneurs. By applying AI, we were able to process large amounts of textual data, uncover nuanced patterns, and identify correlations that might otherwise go unnoticed. The proposed approach enabled a comprehensive analysis of entrepreneurial decision making and provided a robust framework for future research. The findings from this work offer valuable insights into the evolving landscape of entrepreneurship, with significant implications for education, policy, and practice in today’s dynamic business environment.