Zoho's Sridhar Vembu predicts what could happen if AI takes over coding, and techies become jobless

Zoho's Sridhar Vembu believes AI automation won't eliminate jobs but highlights potential economic challenges if governments fail to address income distribution. He suggests that while AI may lead to cheaper goods, the crucial issue is ensuring people can afford them without steady income. Vembu urges governments to tackle monopolies and focus on economic distribution rather than solely relying on technology.
Tired of too many ads?
Remove Ads
'We are nowhere close to full automation'
'Breathing air costs us zero'
Tired of too many ads?
Remove Ads
'This is a political economy issue'
AI's real-world impact still modest
Separating the signal from the noise
As conversations grow louder around artificial intelligence replacing human jobs, Zoho founder Sridhar Vembu has said the issue is not about jobs disappearing, but about how people will earn money in a system where machines do most of the work. In a recent post on X, Vembu explained that even if AI automates software development entirely, it does not mean people will have nothing to do.'On the subject of AI and jobs: Hypothetically, if all software development were to be automated — I want to emphasise that we are nowhere close to that goal — and all software engineers such as myself are out of work, it is not like human beings will have nothing to do,' he wrote.He added that automation will lead to cheaper goods and services, which may appear positive on the surface. However, Vembu raised a bigger concern: how will people afford these goods if they don't have steady income?Vembu argued that the cost of many AI- and robot-made products could fall to almost nothing. 'The price of all the robot-made goods and all the AI-made and AI-supported software would drop massively and be close to zero or zero. Breathing air costs us zero and we don't complain about it,' he wrote.But cheaper goods won't solve the problem, he said, unless income distribution is addressed. The challenge lies in ensuring that people continue to earn, even when fewer workers are needed due to automation.Calling it a 'problem of political economy,' Vembu urged governments to step in. 'This is fundamentally an economic distribution problem, a problem of political economy and not purely a technological problem. One key part is for governments to crack down on monopolies, particularly tech monopolies,' he said.He noted that the discussion should move beyond the assumption that technology alone will define the future of work.Vembu also advised against giving in to hype around AI's ability to rapidly cut costs or jobs. Despite industry claims of major disruption, he pointed out that data suggests the actual impact of AI on employment and productivity remains limited.He cited a study by Anders Humlum and Emilie Vestergaard, titled Large Language Models, Small Labor Market Effects, which examined the use of AI, including chatbots, in Denmark. The research found that even with a rise in AI-related investment, there have been no major changes in job patterns or productivity.Vembu's comments come at a time when AI is often seen as a force that will upend traditional work models. He called for a more balanced view and urged stakeholders to look at evidence before accepting extreme predictions. While acknowledging the advances in AI, he said its real effects on the job market are yet to match the level of attention the subject receives.

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Learn with AIFact CheckingText to SpeechAI Summary

Related Articles

India.com

3 days ago

• India.com

UK sees 23% surge in number of Indian-owned businesses, total revenue generated by these companies is at Rs 764684 crore; Wipro, Zoho lead among...

UK sees 23% surge in number of Indian-owned businesses, total revenue generated by these companies is at Rs 764684 crore; Wipro, Zoho lead among... The number of Indian-owned businesses operating in the United Kingdom has grown sharply this year, going up by 23 per cent compared to last year. According to a new report, there are now 1,197 Indian companies in the UK. This update comes from the 12th edition of the India Meets Britain Tracker , a joint report by the financial firm Grant Thornton and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII). It was released during the UK-India Week in London, in the presence of India's Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal and UK Business and Trade Secretary Jonathan Reynolds. The total revenue generated by these Indian businesses has gone up from GBP 68.09 billion in 2024 to GBP 72.14 billion this year. These companies also play a big role in the UK job market, providing work to over 126,000 people and adding more than 8,000 new jobs in the past year alone. The 2025 edition of the Tracker also highlights that the selected fast-growing companies together earned GBP 32.6 billion and paid GBP 67.3 million in corporation tax. They were responsible for creating over 56,000 jobs in the UK. Among the fastest-growing Indian companies this year, Wipro IT Services UK Societas led the list with an impressive 448 per cent increase in revenue. Close behind was Zoho Corporation Ltd, an IT management company that entered the list for the first time, showing a 197 per cent growth. In total, 20 new companies were added to the Tracker in 2025, while 41 firms from last year continued to feature. London continues to be the top choice for Indian businesses, with nearly half (47 per cent) of all companies based there. The report also noted a small but positive change in gender diversity — 24 per cent of company directors were women this year, up from 21 per cent last year. (With PTI inputs)

Economic Times

4 days ago

• Economic Times

Zoho rolls out Zia Hubs, strengthening its AI roadmap

Global technology company Zoho has unveiled Zia Hubs, designed to help organisations using Zoho WorkDrive to gain deeper business insights from various types of information, a top official Hubs is part of the Zoho WorkDrive, and acts as a tool to extract intelligence from Unstructured Business Hubs is a foundational element of Zoho's long-term AI strategy, laying the groundwork for a future where intelligent agents can act contextually on content across the company's entire product suite. According to company CEO Mani Vembu, Zia Hubs bring a common model to company data, exposing unused information to powerful capabilities and services, including agentic AI, comprehensive analysis and accurate unified search. "According to IDC, 80 per cent of business data is unstructured. Most unstructured data is text-based, meaning pertinent information lives within email conversations, social media posts, word processor documents or audio and video transcripts," he said in a company statement on Wednesday. With Zia Hubs built into the full product suite, Zoho is able to provide customers with a deeper integration than any comparable software platform and nearly limitless potential users for their data, Vembu added. Zia Hubs allows users to store and organise project or task-specific content into dedicated hubs within Zoho WorkDrive software system. Each hub serves as a focused space where Zia can understand and act on the content stored. Currently, Zia Hubs launches are in early access and would be available upon request for Zoho Workdrive users. The general release for users is scheduled by Q3 of FY2025,the company said.

Business Standard

4 days ago

• Business Standard

Zoho launches Zia Hubs to harness AI from unstructured business data

Global technology company Zoho has unveiled Zia Hubs, designed to help organisations using Zoho WorkDrive to gain deeper business insights from various types of information, a top official said. Zia Hubs is part of the Zoho WorkDrive, and acts as a tool to extract intelligence from Unstructured Business Data. Zia Hubs is a foundational element of Zoho's long-term AI strategy, laying the groundwork for a future where intelligent agents can act contextually on content across the company's entire product suite. According to company CEO Mani Vembu, Zia Hubs bring a common model to company data, exposing unused information to powerful capabilities and services, including agentic AI, comprehensive analysis and accurate unified search. "According to IDC, 80 per cent of business data is unstructured. Most unstructured data is text-based, meaning pertinent information lives within email conversations, social media posts, word processor documents or audio and video transcripts," he said in a company statement on Wednesday. With Zia Hubs built into the full product suite, Zoho is able to provide customers with a deeper integration than any comparable software platform and nearly limitless potential users for their data, Vembu added. Zia Hubs allows users to store and organise project or task-specific content into dedicated hubs within Zoho WorkDrive software system. Each hub serves as a focused space where Zia can understand and act on the content stored. Currently, Zia Hubs launches are in early access and would be available upon request for Zoho Workdrive users. The general release for users is scheduled by Q3 of FY2025,the company said.