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.

"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.

"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........

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