The Story Behind Caregiver
Taj Manku
Founder and CEO
When we first began developing the technology behind Caregiver, we did not set out to build a caregiving platform.
At the time, we were focused on spatial intelligence using Wi-Fi. Our technology could understand motion and activity inside a home using the wireless signals already present in the environment. The original applications were focused on the connected home and broadband markets.
Then COVID happened.
Like many families, I suddenly became much more aware of the challenges facing aging parents who were living independently.
My parents lived about 45 minutes away from me. I visited when I could, called them regularly, and checked in often. But I came to realize something important:
I didn’t actually know what was happening day to day.
Phone calls and visits gave me only small snapshots into their lives. You assume everything is okay, but the reality is that you do not really know. And parents, being parents, often do not tell you everything because they do not want you to worry.
The only real way to understand how they were doing was to physically go there. During COVID, that became even harder. My parents were both in their 80s. Both were going through some serious medical procedures. Constant visits were not always possible or safe.
So I began using an early prototype of our spatial intelligence technology in their home.
That changed everything for me.
For the first time, I had continuous awareness instead of occasional check-ins.
One of the first things that became meaningful was incredibly simple: knowing they had woken up in the morning.
Each morning, I would see activity in the home. Movement in the kitchen. Normal routines beginning. What we now call the “Rise and Shine” moment became deeply personal to me. Just knowing the home was active gave me peace of mind.
But over time, I realized something even more important.
A single notification does not tell the whole story.
Patterns over time do.
That insight became the foundation for what Caregiver is today.
The real value was not simply detecting motion. It was understanding what is normal for someone and identifying when those patterns begin to change.
- Sleep patterns.
- Daily routines.
- Activity levels.
- Kitchen usage.
- Bathroom visits.
- Small changes over time.
Those patterns create context. And when patterns shift, they often reveal potential problems much earlier.
In my own experience, there were two situations where the system helped identify serious health concerns with my parents.
One involved significant sleep disruption that clearly showed something was not normal. The other was a serious bacterial infection, where we could see a meaningful change in overall activity and daily behaviour.
In both cases, those changes led us to investigate further and take action.
That was the moment it truly clicked for me.
The future of caregiving is not about watching people.
It is about understanding patterns, identifying change early, and giving families and caregivers the visibility they need to act sooner.
That realization eventually led us to create Caregiver by Cognitive.
Today, as we launch our new service for In-Home Care Providers, our mission is simple:
Help providers extend care beyond the visit itself.
Families want reassurance between visits. Care providers want better visibility into changing conditions without adding friction, cameras, or wearables into the home.
Caregiver was built to provide exactly that.
What started as a personal need inside my own family became something much bigger: a new way to help families, caregivers, and providers understand how loved ones are doing over time, while still respecting independence and dignity.
We are excited to welcome the In-Home Care Provider community as part of this journey.
Video: Introducing Caregiver by Cognitive
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Taj Manku
Founder and CEO
Caregiver by Cognitive