Advertisement
X

Zoho’s Sridhar Vembu Reflects on 18-Year Road to Rival Microsoft Amid Swadeshi Push

Zoho CEO Sridhar Vembu recalled anticipating competition with Microsoft as senior Indian ministers publicly endorsed Zoho

Zoho CEO Sridhar Vembu
Summary
  • Zoho CEO Sridhar Vembu reflects on 18-year journey; firm now mainstream competitor

  • Government leaders endorse Zoho; Education Ministry mandates Zoho Office Suite usage

  • Swadeshi push boosts downloads and Arattai adoption after public ministerial posts

  • Move framed as data-sovereignty under Atmanirbhar agenda; interoperability checks continue

Advertisement

Zoho CEO Sridhar Vembu on Thursday reflected on the start-up’s long journey and recalled how he had anticipated competition with Microsoft 18 years ago.

In a post on X, Vembu shared a screenshot of a web article titled “Can Zoho steal Microsoft’s customers?” He noted that Zoho had made little impact in the market even five or ten years after the article’s publication. However, today the company’s tools are widely regarded as the primary competitor to Microsoft’s suite in India.

“That is why we say "Your life's work, powered by our life's work" on our website.Find your life's work and do it. Then stop worrying about success. Staying alive while doing our life's work, that is success for us,” Vembu stated in the post.

Leaders Endorse Zoho

Several senior members of the Indian government have publicly endorsed Zoho’s suite of productivity and communication tools in recent weeks. The leaders have urged officials and citizens to adopt the home-grown platform as a “Swadeshi” alternative to foreign software.

Advertisement

The flurry of high-level endorsements culminated in a formal directive from the Ministry of Education asking its staff to use Zoho Office Suite for official documents, spreadsheets and presentations.

Union Minister for Electronics & IT Ashwini Vaishnaw said he was “moving to Zoho” and used Zoho Show for a Cabinet briefing presentation, calling on others to follow the prime minister’s call for Swadeshi tech.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah also recently announced that he has switched his official email to Zoho Mail, giving contacts a new Zoho address and signalling a shift away from global email providers for at least some senior offices.

The Education Ministry’s internal instruction makes Zoho Office Suite the default for internal document workflows, part of a broader push by the government to reduce dependence on foreign software and bolster digital sovereignty under the Atmanirbhar/“Made in India” agenda. Officials said the move covers Zoho Writer, Zoho Sheet and Zoho Show stored on Zoho WorkDrive.

Advertisement

Other ministers have amplified the message. Commerce & Industry Minister Piyush Goyal publicly praised Zoho’s Arattai messaging app and encouraged its use, calling it a “Made in India” platform. Those endorsements have coincided with sharp spikes in downloads and public interest around Zoho’s newer consumer offerings.

Zoho: Swadeshi Alternative

Supporters frame the shift as both symbolic and practical, a way to demonstrate preference for domestic innovation while signalling confidence in the technical capabilities of Indian software providers.

Vaishnaw described Zoho’s feature set as “phenomenal” and urged wider adoption; government endorsements are being presented as part of a larger policy push to strengthen data sovereignty and local technology supply chains.

Ministers’ public posts and the Education Ministry circular appear to have accelerated adoption momentum: public downloads and usage metrics for Zoho’s Arattai and other apps rose quickly after high-profile endorsements, and Zoho’s corporate leadership publicly thanked government supporters.

Advertisement

At the same time, multiple ministries are still expected to work through procurement, security and interoperability checks as they expand internal use of new tools.

Show comments