We all know what smartwatches and fitness bands do for humans. They count our steps, monitor our sleep, track our heart rate, and even alert us when something seems wrong with our health.
But did you know cows can wear a smart band too?
At first glance, the collar wrapped around a cow’s neck may not look extraordinary. Yet hidden inside it is a combination of Artificial Intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT), and advanced analytics that can predict illness before symptoms appear, detect the ideal time for breeding, and even help farmers locate a lost animal.
For thousands of dairy farmers across India, this technology is doing far more than tracking livestock. It is helping improve milk production, reduce losses, and increase incomes.
Leading this effort is Nagpur-based eVerse.AI, established in 2022 by Ashish Sonkusare. Shailendra Narwade joined soon after, bringing critical on-ground knowledge to drive execution, while Vidhi Gaur came aboard to lead the company’s climate vertical.
With IoT-based cattle monitoring, eVerse.AI helps farmers move from guesswork to data-driven dairy farming.
“Our mission was to use technology to solve real problems on the ground for smallholder farmers and help put additional income in their pockets,” Ashish tells The Better India.
Today, the startup’s solutions are being used by more than 22 lakh farmers across multiple states, while over 40,000 AI-powered collar devices have been deployed across dairy farms.
Bringing global technology to Indian dairy farms
For Ashish, the idea for eVerse.AI emerged from a unique intersection of personal roots and professional experience.
A computer science graduate from IIT Bombay who spent more than two decades working with global technology giants including IBM, HP, Cognizant and Amazon Web Services, he had spent years helping Fortune 100 companies adopt emerging technologies.
Yet agriculture and livestock remained largely untouched by the digital revolution.
Although he had built his career in the United States, Ashish grew up in Nagpur and came from a family familiar with livestock rearing. Living in one of the world’s major dairy regions in the US also exposed him to the technological advancements being used by farmers abroad.
Each connected cow collar continuously collects data on temperature, activity, and behaviour to detect early illness signs.
“I knew what was happening in advanced countries and I could see the gap in India. I felt that everything I had learnt over the last 25 years could be used to solve problems in a sector that had seen very little technology adoption,” he says.
Joining him in the journey was Vidhi Gaur, who holds a master’s degree in environmental sciences and has worked extensively on sustainability and carbon market projects.
At eVerse.AI, she leads the company’s sustainability portfolio, exploring how climate-linked revenue streams can benefit farming communities.
“We are trying to see how we can bring carbon finance back to smallholder farmers so that they can earn additional incentives along with their regular income,” she explains.
After spending nearly a year understanding farmers’ challenges and working closely with the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB), the team officially launched its products in 2022.
The AI collar that works like a fitbit
The startup’s flagship innovation is its Connected Cow Collar — an IoT-enabled device that functions much like a Fitbit or Apple Watch for livestock.
The collar continuously tracks a cow’s physical activity, body temperature, movement patterns, and other behavioural indicators around the clock.
The data is then analysed using AI and machine learning models.
One of its most valuable functions is early disease prediction.
“In many cases, we can identify that an animal is likely to fall sick before visible symptoms start appearing,” says Ashish.
This allows farmers to seek veterinary care early, preventing serious illness and reducing the risk of infections spreading across herds.
The collar also helps detect heat cycles — the short window during which artificial insemination must be performed for successful breeding.
For many farmers, missing this window results in repeated veterinary expenses and delayed milk production.
By sending timely alerts directly to a farmer’s phone, the system significantly improves breeding outcomes.
GPS-enabled smart collars help dairy farmers locate cattle easily and prevent financial losses from missing livestock.
A built-in GPS feature further allows farmers to track their animals in real time, reducing the anxiety and financial losses associated with lost livestock.
Alongside the collar, eVerse.AI has developed a Connected Cow app that stores an animal’s health history, medical records, and productivity data in one place.
The company has also launched CowGPT, an AI-powered assistant available through WhatsApp in multiple Indian languages.
Designed for ease of use, the tool allows farmers to ask questions through voice notes or text and receive instant guidance related to animal care, nutrition, and health management.
Recognising that technology adoption can be challenging in rural communities, the team prioritised simplicity from the outset.
All solutions are available in local languages, and the company regularly conducts health camps, nutrition camps, training sessions, and awareness programmes to ensure farmers can effectively use the tools.
“Building technology is the easy part. Ensuring farmers can use it confidently and benefit from it is equally important,” Ashish says.
From better animal health to better farmer incomes
The impact of these interventions is already visible on the ground.
For 35-year-old dairy farmer Ankush Shelke from Khedi village, running a dairy business with just five cows was once filled with uncertainty.
Low milk production, difficulty detecting heat cycles, expensive and often unsuccessful artificial insemination procedures, and the constant fear of losing animals created daily challenges.
That changed when he adopted eVerse.AI’s Connected Cow technology two years ago.
Today, he receives instant alerts when a cow enters its heat cycle, helping him call a veterinarian at precisely the right time. The system also warns him about potential illnesses before they become severe.
“As soon as any cow comes into heat, I get an alert on my mobile. If a cow is likely to fall sick, I receive information in advance and can immediately arrange treatment,” he says.
The results have been significant. According to Ankush, each animal now produces an additional two to three litres of milk every day.
Through AI-powered insights, farmers can now detect potential illness in cows before visible symptoms appear.
Using the GPS feature, he can also locate cows that wander away while grazing.
The increased productivity has enabled him to expand his dairy operation considerably. What began with five cows has now grown through the addition of new cows, buffaloes, and calves.
A similar transformation has been experienced by 25-year-old computer science graduate Sujal Bhasne, who helps manage his family’s dairy business.
After installing the AI-powered collars, the family witnessed improvements in breeding success, animal health, and milk production.
“Before a cow becomes seriously ill, the sensor detects changes in activity and alerts us. Timely treatment helps maintain milk production and keeps the animals healthy,” he says.
Tackling climate change while supporting farmers
Beyond animal health, eVerse.AI is also addressing one of the livestock sector’s biggest environmental challenges: methane emissions.
Cattle and buffaloes are among the largest contributors to agricultural methane emissions, a potent greenhouse gas linked to climate change.
Through large-scale methane reduction programmes, the startup is helping farmers adopt improved feeding practices that reduce emissions while enhancing productivity.
The company’s Maharashtra Methane Mission and the Banas Methane Programme are among the largest initiatives of their kind.
By introducing scientifically balanced feed interventions, farmers can reduce methane emissions while improving milk yield.
The resulting emission reductions generate carbon credits, creating an entirely new source of income for participating farmers.
By improving cattle health and breeding efficiency, eVerse.AI enables farmers to earn higher and more stable dairy incomes.
According to the company, farmers can benefit in two ways — through increased milk production and additional earnings from carbon credit programmes.
For Vidhi, this represents a powerful opportunity to connect sustainability with rural livelihoods.
“The goal is not only to reduce emissions but also to ensure that climate finance reaches the communities driving these environmental improvements,” she adds.
Building the future of dairy farming
In just a few years, eVerse.AI has attracted partnerships with major dairy cooperatives including Amul, Banas Dairy and Mother Dairy, while also collaborating with organisations such as the World Bank, Tata Trusts and the Gates Foundation.
Its innovations have earned recognition from global and national institutions, including the FAO’s Global Conference on Sustainable Livestock Transformation, India’s AI Impact Startups initiative, and multiple technology and innovation platforms.
Yet for Ashish, the biggest validation still comes from conversations with farmers.
“When a farmer tells us that they recovered the cost of the device within months or that their income has improved because of our technology, that’s the most satisfying part,” he says.
Looking ahead, the company hopes to expand across India’s major dairy-producing states while increasing awareness around digital adoption.
From cattle health tracking to methane reduction, AI is reshaping India’s dairy ecosystem into a data-driven industry
Ashish believes that cows should be viewed as what he calls “Creators of Wealth” — assets capable of generating multiple streams of income for rural households.
For him, the change is not about imagining a distant future, but about solving everyday moments that farmers already struggle with — a missed heat cycle, a sudden drop in milk, or a cow falling sick too late to save production.
With the right information at the right time, these decisions become simpler, more timely, and far less dependent on guesswork.
And sometimes, that shift begins subtly — with a small collar around a cow’s neck, picking up signals the human eye might miss, and turning them into something a farmer can act on.
All images courtesy Everse.ai team
