In this interview with CanadianSME Small Business Magazine, Dr. Shari van de Pol, Founder and CEO of CATTLEytics Inc., shares her journey of revolutionizing the animal agriculture industry through the integration of cutting-edge technology and sustainable farming practices. With a background in Computer Engineering and Veterinary Medicine, Shari’s work has made a significant impact in enhancing animal welfare and farm profitability. CATTLEytics’ platform leverages machine learning and AI to optimize dairy farm operations, from improving animal health to streamlining communication. Recognized for her leadership and innovation, Shari’s insights provide valuable lessons for entrepreneurs looking to drive change in both agriculture and tech industries. In this conversation, she discusses the challenges and rewards of building a business at the intersection of technology and sustainability, offering advice to small and medium-sized business owners on how to create lasting impact through innovation.
Dr. Shari van de Pol is a leader in sustainable farming solutions, leveraging innovative software and data systems to enhance animal welfare and profitability in the animal agriculture industry. As the Founder and CEO of CATTLEytics Inc., Shari has gained international recognition, winning prestigious awards such as the 2024 Tech for Good Award, the 2024 Spark 111 Pitch Competition, and the 2023 WCT Entrepreneur of the Year. CATTLEytics seamlessly integrates sustainable farming practices with cutting-edge technology, including machine learning and Al, to provide farmers with advanced tools that proactively address animal health and promote environmental responsibility.
CATTLEytics operates at the intersection of agriculture and artificial intelligence-a space not often in the spotlight. How is your technology changing the way dairy farmers manage their operations day-to-day, and what unique role does AI play in that transformation?
CATTLEytics is transforming how dairy farms run — not by replacing what works, but by building on it. We spend time on-farm, learning how things actually get done, and then design tools that leverage cutting edge technology like AI to make complex decisions simpler.
At the heart of our platform is a digital twin of the dairy farm — a real-time model where cows, people, protocols, and pens are all tracked in one place. That means no more lost whiteboard notes or miscommunication. Shift schedules are streamlined, treatments are guided step-by-step, and managers get early warnings when issues impacting productivity arise.
Behind the scenes, AI flags at-risk animals, optimizes protocols, and turns quick notes into actionable plans and protocols. Rather than replacing people, we’re amplifying their expertise and streamlining team communications, giving farmers more time to focus on running or growing their business.
Farms generate a ton of data but making sense of it is often left up to the farmer. CATTLEytics harvests all of that information, cleans the noise, and turns data into actionable value–every single day.
From reducing antibiotic usage to improving feed efficiency, technology is reshaping both the economics and sustainability of dairy farming. What measurable environmental or economic impacts have you seen from farms using your platform, and can you share any specific success stories?
At CATTLEytics, the intersection of sustainability and economics is where things really get interesting. For our clients, using CATTLEytics often starts with a simple goal — better task tracking, clearer communication around who’s working when, or fewer missed treatments — but the ripple effects are measurable.
For example, our soon-to-be-released tools help farms reduce antibiotic usage by ensuring treatments are timely, accurately dosed, and consistently followed. That’s better for the cow, better for the environment, and better for the bottom line.
On the analytics side, we help align repro timing to maximize milk production and track ration changes and pen moves alongside production data. These tools ensure that the right steps are taken to give cows the best lead-up to calving, resulting in measurable gains in feed-to-milk efficiency.
Even on the labour front, the impact is clear. We’ve asked our dairy clients how much time our task manager saves them.On average, they report a savings of two hours a day for owners, one hour for managers, and fifteen to thirty minutes for junior staff. In an industry facing ongoing labour shortages, that time savings means more time for animal care and general maintenance, and fewer mistakes due to miscommunication.
We don’t just track these results as anecdotes — we capture them in hard data. That’s how we tie improvements to ROI while also highlighting environmental benefits like reduced waste, lower medication use, and improved feed efficiency. We’re always looking for those win-wins.
At the end of the day, we’re not just supporting more efficient dairy operations. We’re helping farmers prove that sustainability and profitability can go hand in hand.
Many people still picture farming as low-tech or traditional. What misconceptions do you regularly encounter about agricultural innovation, and what would you want the broader tech community to understand about the challenges and opportunities in this space?
Modern dairy farming is one of the most biologically and operationally complex businesses you can run. It’s 24/7, capital-intensive, and every decision — from feed adjustments to repro timing to staff scheduling — has cascading effects on animal health, productivity, and profit.
People in tech often underestimate that complexity. They’ll ask why a farm doesn’t just plug into an existing solution, forgetting that most off-the-shelf software was never built for 1,200-pound animals with lactation curves, metabolic windows, and five different people making decisions across shifts. Or they assume data is flowing cleanly, when in fact, it’s siloed across pen-and-paper logs, hardware with no APIs, and generational knowledge that lives in someone’s head.
At CATTLEytics,we respect this complexity, and translate it into tools that make sense in a barn, not just a boardroom. We’re solving problems that matter, with a deep respect for the people who feed the world every day.
So to the broader tech world: farming is more of a science than a quaint old-timey hobby. This presents a lot of opportunity, appetite and capital for innovation. But you have to show up with humility, context, and a willingness to co-create. Because in this space, innovation only matters if it earns its place in the milkhouse.
Your journey began by working directly with farmers to strip “noise” from data and reveal actionable insights. How has this hands-on, collaborative approach shaped the development of CATTLEytics’ products, and what lessons have you learned from partnering with farmers on the ground?
CATTLEytics was built in milkhouses, on feed trucks, and over coffee at kitchen tables. From day one, we worked side-by-side with farmers to understand not just what data was being collected, but why it wasn’t helping. We realized quickly that the issue wasn’t a lack of data — it was the noise. Too many numbers, not enough clarity. So our job became about stripping that noise away and surfacing actionable business insights..
That collaborative approach has shaped everything we’ve built. Our shift scheduler came from farmers trying to replace dry-erase boards and WhatsApp threads. Our treatment workflows were co-designed with herdspeople who needed fast, clear guidance during a 4 a.m. sick cow check. And our analytics are grounded in real-world decisions.
What we’ve learned is that the best tech emerges when you design solutions with your clients rather than for them.. Listen first, test in real-world chaos, and be willing to throw out “clever” features if they don’t hold up in a barn.
At the end of the day, farmers are the ultimate systems thinkers. They’re constantly optimizing for animal health, resource use, staff coordination, and profitability. Our job is to translate their instincts into data, and give them tools that make their decisions faster and and more consistent. That partnership is the reason our platform works.
As a leader in agri-tech and sustainable business, what final advice or insights would you share with small and medium-sized business owners who aspire to drive innovation and create lasting impact in their industries?
Innovation doesn’t start with flashy tech — it starts with listening. If you’re a small or medium-sized business owner trying to drive change, my advice is: stay close to the people you’re building for. The best innovations I’ve been part of came not from a whiteboard, but from asking, “What’s actually broken here?” and then being brave (or stubborn) enough to try fixing it.
You don’t need to be the biggest to make a big impact — but you do need to be relentless about solving real problems, and humble enough to co-create your way through it. In agriculture especially, change has to earn its keep. If your product saves time, improves margins, or reduces friction, farmers will adopt it. If it adds complexity, it’ll collect dust.
At CATTLEytics, we built our platform by sitting with farmers, digging into the messy middle between data and decisions, and refusing to settle for bandaid solutions. We focused on clarity, action, and value — and that mindset applies across any industry.
So if you want to drive lasting impact, don’t chase buzzwords. Chase outcomes. Start where you are, build with who you serve, and make sure your solution is something people would fight to keep if it disappeared tomorrow.
That’s when you know you’ve built something that matters.
