How Cognitive Systems’ Taj Manku is reimagining home care through Wi-Fi

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Tech About Town by Communitech

Communitech

38 episodes

5 days ago

Tech About Town gives you an inside look at what's happening in Waterloo Region tech. Each episode brings you a unique view from a founder, ecosystem partner, Communitecher, and maybe a local celebrity. Communitech was founded in 1997 by a group of entrepreneurs committed to making Waterloo Region a global innovation leader. At the time it was just a wild idea, but somehow this community managed to pull it off. Today, Communitech is a public-private innovation hub that supports a community of more than 1,600 companies — from startups to scale-ups to large global players.

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How Cognitive Systems’ Taj Manku is reimagining home care through Wi-Fi

Tech About Town by Communitech

29 minutes 22 seconds

3 months ago

How Cognitive Systems’ Taj Manku is reimagining home care through Wi-Fi

What if your Wi-Fi could do more than just connect your devices?

For Taj Manku, co-founder and CEO of Cognitive Systems, a personal caregiving challenge sparked a professional breakthrough. When his aging parents experienced medical emergencies, Manku found himself navigating the emotional and logistical weight of caregiving while raising a family and running a fast-growing tech company in Waterloo.

That experience led to Caregiver by Cognitive, an eldercare solution powered by WiFi Motion, software that turns ambient Wi-Fi signals into a passive way to monitor movement in the home, with no cameras, no microphones and no extra effort from aging loved ones.

In this episode of Tech About Town, Taj joins us to share how his team built a privacy-first tool that helps families worry less, the challenges of elder tech adoption, and why Waterloo continues to be the perfect home base for Cognitive’s global impact.

00:42 — Introducing Dr. Taj Manku and the idea of Wi-Fi-powered caregiving

03:01 —The origin of Cognitive Systems

06:40 — From fall-detecting pendants to smart plugs: why ambient Wi-Fi wins

07:28 — “Rise & Shine,” Last-Motion alerts and inactivity notifications

10:17 — Privacy first: starting tough conversations with ageing parents

13:38 — How (and why) Caregiver stays separate from 911 call-centres

15:03 — Two parents, one home: what the system can—and can’t—see

16:24 — Ageing in place with dignity while families “worry less”

17:54 — In-home-care adoption: pricing, installation and industry response

20:00 — Branding shift: B2B roots vs. B2C ambitions

23:31 — Building the “Caregiver by Cognitive” brand with partners

25:44 — Why Waterloo Region is still the perfect global HQ

28:34 — Wrap-up, show notes and where to learn more about Communitech