Zoho Co-Founder Sridhar Vembu Warns Against AI Hype, Emphasizes Building India’s Tech Infrastructure
Zoho Co-Founder Sridhar Vembu has urged caution over the growing frenzy around artificial intelligence (AI), calling for more realistic expectations and measured investments.
In an interview with NDTV Profit, Vembu acknowledged AI’s enormous potential but compared the current hype—particularly in the US—to previous bubbles in the dotcom and e-commerce sectors. “I believe in AI technology, but I do not believe in the investment bubble,” he said, warning that pouring trillions into AI without strong foundational infrastructure could trigger a market bust.
He stressed the importance of building India’s own silicon and hardware ecosystem to fully leverage AI’s capabilities, noting that countries like China have already advanced significantly in this area. “Even if we develop AI software, the GPUs, silicon, and other hardware that AI relies on must be built here. China has achieved that—they have both AI software and the chips it runs on. India has started focusing on this only in recent years; progress is happening, but it will take time,” Vembu added.
Commenting on the massive investments by US tech giants, he remarked, “I do not fundamentally believe that all of this will pan out. There is definitely an investment bubble.”
Zoho’s Growing Global Presence
Highlighting Zoho’s products, Vembu said the company continues to gain global traction. Zoho Mail, for instance, is highly competitive internationally, with 90% of revenue coming from outside India. “Zoho Mail is one of our fastest-growing products. We are competing effectively against Microsoft and Google, which is why we are winning customers worldwide,” he noted.
Vembu also emphasized Zoho’s credibility in India, mentioning that the government selected Zoho Mail after a stringent evaluation, including 18 audits covering security, privacy, and data center practices. “That’s why I am confident our technology is robust,” he added.
Zoho’s Messaging Platform ‘Arattai’
Vembu highlighted Zoho’s newly launched messaging platform, Arattai, which competes with Microsoft Teams and Slack. He assured users that calls are already end-to-end encrypted, and messages will be end-to-end encrypted in the coming weeks, ensuring strong security and privacy standards.
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