‘Demographic Bust In India’: Sridhar Vembu Says He Wants Zoho Workers To Marry, Have Kids | Exclusive | Tech News

Zoho’s Sridhar Vembu, whose company has made significant contributions to what he calls the “Swadeshi tech movement”, spoke on the importance of building indigenous tech ecosystems. (Image: News18/File)

Zoho co-founder and chief scientist Sridhar Vembu said he encourages his employees to marry and have children because there is a “demographic bust”, particularly down South but all over India.

“Today we have a demographic bust everywhere, particularly in the south, but all over India. So I encourage our own employees, get married, have children,” Sridhar Vembu told News18 in an exclusive interview. 

Calling it his company’s “culture”, Vembu said Zoho is like an “extended family” and ensures that all employees have the best facilities on the campus, especially with respect to childcare.

“Only if the company provides the environment, can employees think of having families. So we try to go out of our way to help, you know, by providing the facilities here… We do take care of childcare because now it’s working parents – both father and mother. They can work more at peace if they know that their child is in a certain place,” Vembu said.

Vembu, whose company has made significant contributions to what he calls the “Swadeshi tech movement”, spoke on the importance of building indigenous tech ecosystems. He shared deep insights on the future of Indian technology while discussing Zoho’s growth and the vision behind Arattai.

He said his company is exploring the evolving landscape of artificial intelligence, digital sovereignty, and how India can lead the next wave of innovation.

“We are in this for the long haul. We are, you know, a company with an ethical core. We value your privacy. We value that you own your data. We make sure that we stay in our lane. What you are interested in, we know the trust and the responsibility. We have been around for 30 years,” he added.

Multiple government offices, union ministers and other officials have adopted the Indian made Zoho mail in the last few days as part of a push for adopting Swadeshi products. On September 22, Union Minister for Electronics and Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw said he had switched to Zoho, and urged others to join in on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s call for Swadeshi by adopting indigenous products and services.