AI Platform Connects 1,200 Farm Workers to Steady Jobs in India

Imagine spending months each year searching for work, never knowing when your next paycheck will arrive. That's the reality for 140 million farm laborers across India who work on other people's land.

Azhaan Merchant saw this crisis firsthand while studying farms across rural Maharashtra. Instead of turning to expensive tractors and machines like most of the industry, he had a different idea: use technology to connect workers with farmers who desperately need them.

In February 2024, Merchant met Gourav Sanghai at a venture capital program in Bengaluru. By year's end, they had launched Bharat Intelligence to solve India's agricultural labor shortage.

The startup focuses on Nashik, where 800,000 laborers depend on seasonal grape farm work. Their approach is brilliantly simple: meet people where they already are.

Most operations happen through WhatsApp and voice calls, which farmers and workers already use daily. AI technology records these conversations and extracts useful information without requiring anyone to learn a new app.

The real innovation lies in what Sanghai calls "digital village models." The team analyzed 10,000 data points across 40,000 Maharashtra villages to understand who lives there, what skills they have, and when they're available for work.

This creates a living calendar showing exactly which workers are free and what crops they know how to handle. An AI matchmaking engine then pairs the right laborers with farms that need them.

Farmers pay about $73 per acre for the service. That might sound steep, but the 86% retention rate tells the story: removing the daily hassle of finding and managing workers is worth it.

The platform currently supports 1,200 active laborers, with 3,000 more waiting to join. Workers receive same-day payments, eliminating the uncertainty that has defined their working lives for generations.

The Ripple Effect

Bharat Intelligence isn't just filling jobs. It's creating economic stability for thousands of families who have never experienced consistent income.

The startup recently raised $840,000 from Sahyadri Farms, which sees labor availability as one of agriculture's most pressing challenges. Chairman Vilas Shinde notes they're empowering farmers to become shareholders in the technology shaping their future.

The team plans to grow from 1,200 to 10,000 active daily laborers within 12 months. Since they've already onboarded 20,000 of Nashik's 150,000 grape-growing acres, they only need to serve 25% of their existing farmer base to hit that goal.

For workers like those 3,000 waiting to join, that growth means something simple but profound: knowing where tomorrow's wages will come from.