The Finance World Magazine| Edition: March 2023

Sridhar Vembu is the founder and CEO of Zoho Corporation, established
in California in 1996. The company is the parent organization of three
prominent brands; Zoho, ManageEngine, and WebNMS - which offer SaaS
(Software as a Service) products to businesses worldwide.
Exclusive to The Finance World Magazine
Q. We have heard a lot about AI
for the past few months, so what
is your say over there?
You can take ChatGPT as an example,
but one thing to keep in mind is that
there is still text prediction revision
because such tools don’t have a lot of
truth or reality. So, they can give you
very plausible and clear-sounding texts,
but they might not have a connection
with reality or truth. This problem
has to be solved; these tools have to
be augmented with what is true and
what is a fact. Those are the types of
problems that have to be solved.
For example, these tools do not
know the notion of gravity, where
objects automatically fall. So, these
things have to be taught to these tools.
This applies even to mathematics; for
example, these tools have problems with
adding, subtracting, etc. These things
are different from text prediction. All
these other things will be brought to
AI; that’s how I see the future.
Q. How do you suggest for a company
at the SME level or corporate level
to keep a balance between R&D or
innovation and revenue?
It is good first to have spent a
proportional budget already. It’s true
for almost most companies because this
is what keeps enhancing your offerings.
R&D is not some Nobel Prize-winning
new research. For example, I could
be managing a restaurant where new
recipes are considered R&D. How do
you create your new recipes? If I find
some new formula, my sales could
suddenly grow up, but for that, I will
be experimenting. I would have one or
two people try new things. This could
be true in media too; how you present
your information better, what kind of
visuals are easier to understand, etc.
In other words, you are curious, and
your mind is constantly learning how
to do this better. This is the continuous
improvement process of every business
having a proportional budget. It is good
to allocate. The leadership should also
be committed to this. R&D is not some
department you set up and forget;
the leadership has to be constantly
committed to this.
Establish
trust with the
employees
in order for
them to work
together
and gain the
trust of the
customers.
Q. What can you say to a new
entrepreneur who starts his journey
and listens to this statement, “money
is not important”?
Money is important because otherwise,
how do you pay the bills, pay your
employees, or invest in products? In
the quest for money, however, it is
important to keep in mind the idea of
not sacrificing any long-term goals we
have. In a sense, if I’m worried about
the next quarter’s profit result, I may
take decisions that harm the longterm
commitment of employees, the
commitment of customers, etc. That is
bad. In other words, we have to keep a
balance between making sure we are
able to pay our bills and making sure
we’re viable, relevant, and vibrant in the
long term, so that balance is important.
Q. How do you see the benefits for
businesses in light of the relations
between the governments of the
UAE and India?
The ties between the two nations
are very strong and getting stronger.
Hence, the business climate is very good
here, particularly for Indians. We also
see in the market customers who love
doing business with a company like us
because we come with a very different
mindset. First of all, our technology is
world-class and very affordable. We
also come with a very humble approach
of working with customers, learning
from them, and applying those lessons
to our software. So, this refreshing
approach is also something good to
customers; they love it, and that is
how this cultural connection is actually
fueling our expansion.
Q. Do you have any final message
for our readers or advice on how
they can grow in their business
and personal lives and keep the
balance between the two?
It’s important to keep the long-term
focus and make sure you take care of
your employees well; offer them a safe,
secure work environment and create
your team. Earn the employees’ trust
so that collectively the employees can
go and earn the customer’s trust.
March 2023 www.thefinanceworld.com 93