Sridar Vembu, Zoho Corporation’s founder and Chief Scientist, has expressed confidence in India’s IT services industry, highlighting its swift transition into AI services as a promising new growth engine for the country. In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Vembu shared insights from a recent conversation with a senior executive in the IT services space, who has spent over 20 years in the industry.
The executive, whom Sridhar Vembu didn’t name but talked about, now heads a rapidly expanding team that helps Western financial institutions implement AI solutions. “Business is booming and he has been asked to expand his team rapidly,” Vembu wrote, highlighting the sharp rise in demand for AI-related consulting and implementation work.
Indian IT industry adapting to the ‘AI era’
Vembu praised the sector’s ability to pivot quickly. “I am very happy to see India’s IT services industry adapting to the new era rapidly. It is that adaptability that is the key.” While cautioning that it is still early days, he added, “AI may become a major growth engine for India.”
In a previous post, Vembu himself had highlighted how AI is getting crucial for the software development industry. He had highlighted that his software developers at Zoho are encouraged to utilise AI tools for getting the base level of coding completed. However, at the same time, Vembu insisted that the company ensures that coders take responsibility for the AI-written code, ensuring that the snippets written by AI should function as expected.
Coming back to the latest post, responses to Vembu’s views were fairly receptive. Several users pointed out that Indian IT companies have accumulated deep domain knowledge across global industries, especially finance, over the past three decades. One of the commenters stated, “The years of exposure to various business processes will help professionals to apply AI in various verticals. Huge advantage to Indian IT firms who have been grinding behind the scenes of every large global firm for 3 decades now.” Vembu replied affirmatively, stating, “The domain experience in IT services is amazing.”
Balancing job creation and automation concerns
The X thread-based discussion also touched on the potential downsides of AI adoption. Some users raised concerns about reduced campus hiring and job displacement in traditional application development and maintenance roles. In response, Vembu offered a balanced perspective, stating, “Traditional application development and maintenance would likely lose jobs, offset by AI enablement jobs because best use of AI tools requires domain expertise which IT services firms have gained. On balance, it may work out well.”
India’s IT industry, which generates over hundreds of billions of dollars in annual revenue and employs millions, has been aggressively investing in AI training, generative AI labs, and strategic partnerships. Major players including TCS, Infosys, Wipro, and HCLTech have reported significant growth in AI-led deals and workforce upskilling programs in recent quarters.