Canadian farmers work at the crossroads of agriculture and technology. As the Founder and CEO of CATTLEytics — and a graduate of McMaster Engineering — Dr. Shari van de Pol and her team have developed data-driven systems that empower farmers by helping them reclaim valuable time while enhancing animal care.
Dr. van de Pol’s journey into the agri-tech industry is driven by her dual passions for animal health and technological innovation. “I have always been interested in agriculture, farming and animals, as well as creating things,” she says.
After graduating with a degree in Computer Engineering at McMaster University, Dr. van de Pol worked for computer giant IBM. While grateful for the opportunity and experience, it eventually became clear to her that this was not the path to a fulfilling career.
“It was a great company and a great job, but it didn’t connect with what was important to me,” she says upon reflection.
During this time, Dr. van de Pol continued exploring her love of animals by shadowing a large animal vet one day a week for three years. “It was my favourite day of the week,” she says.
Inspired, she returned to school and earned her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine at University of Guelph. Since graduating, Dr. van de Pol has made it her mission to improve the lives of farmers and animals by bringing an engineering approach to agriculture.
Engineering efficient systems
Working with farmers gave Dr. van de Pol an opportunity to witness first-hand the significance of their role in society. “What really grabbed me was how rewarding it is working with dairy farmers,” she says. “They work incredibly hard and tend to be down-to-earth. They don’t take themselves too seriously, while being highly skilled at business, animal health and welfare, treatments, reproduction, nutrition and equipment maintenance. In fact, I think they often take their multi-faceted intelligence, resourcefulness and deep knowledge for granted.”
She also noticed inefficiencies in the processes on many farms because the existing tech options were not providing practical solutions. Using her engineering mindset, Dr. van de Pol launched CATTLEytics in 2014, a data platform and software system designed to provide cutting-edge analytical tools supporting improvements in nearly every aspect of dairy farming.
CATTLEytics provides real-time staff, task and protocol management, treatment and event recording, data modeling and forecasting in one centralized platform. Using these practical and holistic solutions, farmers will be able to create protocols using AI and link them to assigned tasks, optimize health programs for each individual animal, track changes that could affect the herd and the farm, and raise profitability and sustainability by optimizing the use of resources. Everyone on the farm will have access to the same information, facilitating smooth communication and knowledge sharing across all farm operations.
By using CATTLEytics’ task manager alone, potential savings for large dairy farms (1000 head or more) have been quantified at over $6000 per month or $72,000 per year.
Notably, CATTLEytics is widely accessible to farmers. “We created state-of-the-art software that farmers can use when the other options are either ineffective or tied to equipment purchased or software that was great in its day but is not keeping up with the times,” she says.
Disrupting the status quo: Fresh perspectives for a traditional sector
Despite deep-rooted traditions, Dr. van de Pol has found farmers are often open to new methods if they deliver compelling results.
“The risks are so much greater for dairy farmers when it comes to change, but they are very fast to adopt new systems when they can see the positive effects,” she says.
The success of CATTLEytics has led to recognition. The company won the COFS Innovation and Farmer’s Choice award and was recently named as part of the Government of Canada’s recent $12-million funding announcement for businesses expanding and improving Ontario’s agri-food sector.
Dr. van de Pol herself was recently named an RBC Canadian Women Entrepreneur Awards Innovation Winner, the WCT entrepreneur of the year award, the CME Tech for Good award and she was nominated for a 2025 YWCA Women of Distinction Award.
The risks are so much greater for dairy farmers when it comes to change, but they are very fast to adopt new systems when they can see the positive effects.
Being unafraid to take a professional risk has led Dr. van de Pol to a rewarding career, and she encourages McMaster Engineering students to explore roles in this industry.
“If you see yourself as having a skill in new technologies like AI and data analytics as well as an interest in the agriculture-tech space, we would love to connect with you,” she says. “We want to cultivate a strong Canadian dairy-tech community collaborating on better tools for farmers, improving the lives of animals and the people who care for them while providing all of us with safe delicious dairy products that are sustainably produced.”
Visit CATTLEytics to further explore the work of Dr. van de Pol and her team, and learn about new opportunities. Hear Dr. van de Pol speak about her career path on the MacCast podcast.
Enginuity is a story series spotlighting McMaster Faculty of Engineering grads who are doing things differently. They’re innovators, creators and entrepreneurs pursuing non-traditional engineering roles in diverse industries. Are you a McMaster Engineering grad who may be a good fit for an Enginuity story? Get in touch!
