“Leadership Shift at Zoho: Sridhar Vembu Steps Down as CEO”

“Given the various challenges and opportunities that face us, including the recent major developments in artificial intelligence, I have decided that it would be best for me to focus all my attention on research and development initiatives, while also advancing my personal rural development mission.”

Co-founder and CEO of Chennai/US based Zoho Corp Shridhar Vembu will step down from the post of CEO of the company. He will assume a new role as Chief Scientific Officer who will be responsible for deep research and development initiatives. Co-founder of the company Shailesh Kumar Deve will work as the group CEO.

Another co-founder Tony Thomas Zoho will lead the US. Rajesh Ganesh will lead the Manage Engine division and Mani Vembu will lead the Zoho.com division,

Shreedhar Vembu said in a social media post. Vembu said, “Looking at the various challenges and opportunities facing us including recent major developments in Artificial Intelligence (AEI), I have decided that it is best to focus full time on the agenda initiatives while also advancing my personal rural development mission.” He said,

“The future of our company completely depends on how well we navigate the current challenges and I am looking forward to my new career with energy and enthusiasm. I am also very excited to be back to technical work.”

On AI in November 2024, Vembu said, “I have been busy reinventing ourselves in the AI era. Every tech company (in fact every company!) has to figure this out. It is a huge opportunity if executed well and a huge challenge if not.

As the saying goes, we can only deserve success, not ensure it.” Incidentally, Vembu who was the co-chairman of the apex committee set up by the Centre decided on three AI centres of excellence on healthcare, agriculture and sustainable cities.

Interestingly, Fresh works founder Girish Mathrubootham (who was once an employee of Zoho) handed over the CEO position to Chairman Dennis Woodsides in May 2024. One of the reasons for this was that he wanted to spend more time developing various AI-based products with the Chennai R&D team.

Sridhar Vembu firmly believes that a company should be built without relying on venture capital or private equity. Being private, the company has not disclosed its revenue, which is believed to be over $1 billion.“Since we have never taken money from investors, we have always been able to focus on what is best for the customer. Instead of worrying about short-term gains, we have had the freedom to think about the long-term,” says the company’s website.

“This kind of freedom transforms our approach to problem-solving, empowering us to think truly differently. From how we build to how we hire, our unconventional approach has led us to over 15,000 employees and 100 million users worldwide,”

The company said.Zoho wasn’t built in a day. In 1996, Vembu along with his co-founders started AdventNet (Zoho’s parent company) focusing on network management. In May 2009, the company announced that AdventNet Inc. would now become Zoho Corporation.

Today, with over 55 apps in almost every major business category, Zoho is one of the most prolific technology companies in the world. Headquartered in Chennai, India, Zoho is privately owned and profitable with over 15,000 employees.