Sridhar Vembu: The billionaire who gave up the CEO office to focus on R&D

Vembu's decision to step down as Zoho CEO comes at a critical moment, one when artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly changing the computing landscape

A billionaire who left a comfortable life in the United States to settle down in a village called Govindaperi, around a 40-minute drive from Tenkasi in Tamil Nadu. That's the first thing that everyone mentions when they talk about Sridhar Vembu, the poster boy of India’s software-as-a-solution (SaaS) ecosystem.

 

So it came as no surprise when Vembu decided to step down as the chief executive officer of Zoho and take charge as the chief scientist of the company, overseeing the research and development division. His co-founder, Shailesh Kumar Davey, will take over as the new group CEO.

 

Vembu's decision comes