Sridhar Vembu steps down as CEO of Zoho Corp
Sridhar Vembu, who built the SaaS giant in 1996, will take on the role of Chief Scientist at Zoho Corp, as well as pursue his personal rural development mission.
Zoho Corp Founder and CEO Sridhar Vembu has stepped down from his role as Chief Executive Officer.
Vembu, who built the SaaS giant in 1996, will take on the role of Chief Scientist, where he will lead Zoho’s deep R&D initiatives and pursue his 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. I will step down as CEO of Zoho Corp and take a new role as Chief Scientist, responsible for deep R&D initiatives," said Vembu in a post on X on Monday.
Following this transition, Co-founder Shailesh Kumar Davey will take over as the Group CEO. Tony Thomas, also a Co-founder, will head Zoho’s US operations. Rajesh Ganesan will lead the ManageEngine division, and Mani Vembu will take charge of the Zoho.com division.
"The future of our company entirely depends on how well we navigate the R&D challenge and I am looking forward to my new assignment with energy and vigor. I am also very happy to get back to hands-on technical work," he added.
After completing his Bachelor’s in Electrical Engineering from IIT Madras in 1989, Vembu earned his MS and PhD in Electrical Engineering from Princeton University. He began his career as an engineer at Qualcomm in San Diego, US.
In 1996, along with two of his brothers, Vembu founded AdventNet, a software development firm catering to network equipment providers. The company was renamed Zoho Corporation in 2009, shifting its focus to providing SaaS support for CRM services.
Sridhar Vembu is ranked by Forbes as the 39th richest person in India in 2024, with a net worth of $5.85 billion. In 2021, Vembu was honoured with the Padma Shri, India’s fourth-highest civilian award, and appointed to India’s National Security Advisory Board (NSAB).
Zoho, the Chennai-based SaaS unicorn, surpassed $1 billion in sales, generating an operating revenue of Rs 8,703 crore for FY23—up 29% from Rs 6,710 crore earned in the previous fiscal year.
The company’s overall revenue, inclusive of other income, was Rs 9,158 crore in the fiscal year ended March 31, 2023. The firm’s net profit was up 3%, totalling Rs 2,836 crore.
With a user base exceeding 90 million across 600,000 businesses, Zoho redirected its focus to the Indian market in 2014. Since then, it has established offices in key cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Bengaluru, and Hyderabad. Some of its clientele include Tata Consultancy Services, Hexaware, WNS, Tech Mahindra, Infosys, and Wipro.
(The copy was updated with additional information.)
Edited by Suman Singh
