Sridhar Vembu resigns as CEO of Zoho Corp, takes on new role as ‘Chief Scientist’

Sridhar Vembu announced on Monday, January 27, that he has stepped down as CEO of Zoho Corp. He will take on his new role as ‘Chief Scientist’ of the company, Sridhar Vembu said in a post on X. Sridhar Vembu also revealed the name of Zoho Corp's new CEO, stating, “Our co-founder Shailesh Kumar Davey will serve as our new group CEO."

In his announcement, Sridhar Vembu explained that the challenges and opportunities arising from developments in the Artificial Intelligence (AI) led to the decision for him to step down as the CEO and take on the role of Chief Scientist.

He 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. 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. The future of our company entirely depends on how well we navigate the R&D challenge…,” Sridhar Vembu announced.

The Chennai-based company posted consolidated revenue of ₹8,703 crore for the financial year 2023 (FY23), marking an almost 30 per cent year-on-year increase. The revenue was mainly driven by the sale of its enterprise IT management software and business application software, including Manage Engine and Zoho.

In FY23, the company also generated ₹16.6 crore from other operational activities.