Zoho’s Sridhar Vembu, known for his advocacy of traditional and culturally Indian philosophies online, stepped down from the position of CEO of Zoho earlier this week. He will now be taking the role of the chief scientist of the company.
Not Joining Politics
Meanwhile, rumours of Vembu joining politics has made him swing into action. He took to X to issue a clarification on the matter.
Addressing the issue of his joining politics, Vembu said, “I heard there is a “news” item going around about me joining politics. I burst out laughing when I heard this!”
Laying down his priorities and commitments surrounding the company, he said he has been preparing hard to present our R&D strategy on Artificial Intelligence to an audience of industry analysts in Austin, Texas next week.
I heard there is a "news" item going around about me joining politics. I burst out laughing when I heard this!
I have been preparing hard to present our R&D strategy on AI to an audience of industry analysts in Austin next week. Yes I will be going there.
I have an extremely…
— Sridhar Vembu (@svembu) January 30, 2025
Going To Focus On R&D
Vembu said he will be going to the US for the same.
Vembu further clarfied that he would not have time for any other venture, like politics and said, “I have an extremely challenging new role in deep tech R&D right now and there is just no way, NO WAY, I have any time for politics. “
He concluded his post on X by saying, “On top of that, I have had ZERO discussions with anyone, about me joining politics. I hope that clears that up. Back to work!”
Previously, Vembu in another post on X on January 27 announced his resignation and transition.
A New Chapter For Zoho Founder
In his post Sridhar Vembu said, “A new chapter begins today.
In view of the various challenges and opportunities facing us, including recent major developments in AI, it has been decided that it is best that I should focus full time on R&D initiatives, along with pursuing my personal rural development mission.”
A new chapter begins today.
In view of the various challenges and opportunities facing us, including recent major developments in AI, it has been decided that it is best that I should focus full time on R&D initiatives, along with pursuing my personal rural development mission.…
— Sridhar Vembu (@svembu) January 27, 2025
Further explaining his future plans, he added, “I will step down as CEO of Zoho Corp and take a new role as Chief Scientist, responsible for deep R&D initiatives. Our co-founder Shailesh Kumar Davey will serve as our new group CEO. Our co-founder Tony Thomas will lead Zoho US. Rajesh Ganesan will lead our ManageEngine division and Mani Vembu will lead the http://Zoho.com division.”
Accoridng to him, the future of Zoho depends on how well the B2B company navigates the R&D challenges.
