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In a social media post, Sridhar Vembu, former CEO of Zoho, denied any intentions to enter politics
Sridhar Vembu currently holds the post of ‘chief scientist’ of the company.
Days after Sridhar Vembu, founder and CEO of software major Zoho Corporation, stepped down as the Chief Executive Officer, he shared a post on X (formerly Twitter) explaining why he did so. His post comes as there are reports of him entering politics. Meanwhile, Vembu’s new role is to focus on research and development as the ‘chief scientist’ of the company.
“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,” Sridhar Vembu’s post on X read.
Further outlining his goals for this year, Sridhar Vembu explained “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.”
The former CEO of Zoho ended his post 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.”
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
On January 27, Sridhar Vembu stepped down as the CEO of Zoho Corp. He announced on X that he would focus on research and development as the ‘chief scientist’ of the company. He also disclosed that Shailesh Kumar Davey, a co-founder of the group, will become Zoho Corp.’s new CEO. He further described the organisational structure, with Mani Vembu in charge of Zoho.com, Rajesh Ganesan in charge of ManageEngine, and co-founder Tony Thomas in charge of Zoho US.
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
In addition, Sridhar Vembu demonstrated his excitement for his new position by saying that he is eager to get back to doing practical technical work and that the company’s future depends on its ability to effectively navigate the R&D challenge.
Sridhar Vembu: Who is he?
Sridhar Vembu is a very prosperous businessman with a $5.8 billion net worth, as per Forbes. He founded Zoho, a privately held firm that creates cloud-based business software and serves as its CEO.
Vembu owns the majority of Zoho along with his two siblings. Vembu graduated from Princeton University with a Ph.D. in electrical engineering. He finances a Tamil Nadu school for rural kids in addition to his commercial endeavours.
