Mark Mirchandani is back this week with guest host Gabe Weiss to learn about HerdX. Our guests, Ron Hicks and Austin Adams, describe how this idea came about, the mechanics of the system, and how it could change the world of livestock.

HerdX is an environmentally friendly, humane way to improve the system of livestock management and sales. It uses monitoring systems to follow animals as they move about the field, then employs algorithms to identify any problems that may need attention. This allows for treatment of specific animals, rather than mass treatment of both healthy and unhealthy livestock. When pitted against humans, HerdX’s AI system could pinpoint the problem livestock much faster and more accurately than people. Once problem livestock are found, the rancher can use that information to devise and implement a treatment plan. Consumers benefit from HerdX as well, through better quality meat and better transparency of rancher practices. The players in the supply chain are recorded and meat is monitored through the entire process, from farm, to feed lot, to the dinner table. Because bad animals can be removed or cured and the supply chain is run much more efficiently, meat spoilage and food poisoning can be mitigated.

Ron Hicks

As the CEO & Founder of HerdX, Inc., a global AgTech company based in the Texas Hill Country, Ron is filling the void in ag data with IoT devices designed for livestock herds. In a nutshell, HerdX is using tags, water, and data to connect farmers around the world with families around the dinner table. Before his time with HerdX, Ron had a number of immensely successful career paths and achievements as a serial entrepreneur, inventor, and a strong visionary who loves disruptive technologies that can change the world. He was distinguished with Business Week’s top industrial design award in Medical Technologies, which recognized him along with other leaders and companies throughout the world, including BMW, Sony, Logitech, and Ford Motor Company. Ron is also a dynamic speaker who is passionate about solving problems rather than just talking about them and has spoken at conferences as a keynote speaker at Google headquarters in the United States and Singapore. He was also the keynote speaker at Texas Governor Rick Perry’s program titled “Technology Excellence for Rural America” which served as a springboard for the formation of HerdX.

Austin Adams

Austin Adams holds over a decade of experience in leading innovative software teams. At his previous employer Adams took multiple greenfield projects from initial scoping, to research and development, to proof of concept, and ultimately to market-leading products. Adams is an early adopter, leader, and contributor to the Kubernetes open source platform. He has used Kubernetes to create automation systems to help drive more than a billion dollars of product sales.

Cool things of the week

Press play: Find and listen to podcast episodes on Search blog
Japanese researchers build robotic tail to keep elderly upright site
Shining a light on your costs: New billing features from Google Cloud blog

Interview

HerdX site
New Zealand Innovator of the Year Awards site

Question of the week

How do I connect an IoT device to a trigger event in the cloud?

Cloud IoT step-by-step: Cloud to device communication blog
Cloud IoT Core site
Gabe’s blog blog

Where can you find us next?

Mark will be hanging out locally and working on training content.

Gabe will be at Next London.

Sound Effect Attribution

“radio t3 SW bleep.wav” by ERH of Freesound.org

HerdX With Ron Hicks and Austin Adams

Google Cloud Platform Podcast