Archive · 24 Sep 2026
Vembu Urges Independent Indian AI Strategy Amid Job Concerns
Sridhar Vembu says India should create its own plan for artificial intelligence.
He believes India can cooperate with the United States, China and other countries without choosing one side.
He wants India to spend money on basic research that can help technology develop over time.
Vembu does not think AI will automatically destroy humanity.
He also thinks it would be unrealistic for every country and company to stop developing AI.
His bigger worry is that people may rely on AI so much that they stop learning important skills.
He is especially concerned about students, junior workers and software engineers.
He says experienced people may use AI more safely because they already understand the basics.
Vembu expects some software jobs to shrink but believes new kinds of work may grow.
Zoho co-founder Sridhar Vembu urged India to pursue an independent AI strategy while maintaining partnerships with all countries.
He called for foundational research investment across sectors, saying some projects could cost $100 million to $200 million.
Vembu said catastrophic AI predictions are overstated and a worldwide development pause would be difficult to enforce.
He warned that excessive AI dependence could weaken human judgment and skills, especially among students and junior professionals.
Vembu expects AI to pressure software engineering jobs but believes automation will expand work in other sectors.
- Who
- Sridhar Vembu, Zoho’s co-founder and chief scientist, made the recommendations.
- What
- He advocated an independent Indian AI strategy, foundational research investment and cautious AI use to preserve human skills.
- When
- Vembu made the comments on Wednesday during an interview with PTI.
- Where
- The comments concerned India’s position in the global AI landscape; no specific interview location was stated.
- Why
- He said India should build long-term technological capabilities, avoid being locked into the United States-China rivalry and prevent excessive AI dependence from weakening human judgment and skills.
Caution, independence and human skills
Rapid development and frontier competition
Global AI pause
Caution, independence and human skills
Vembu argues that a worldwide pause would be difficult to enforce and may allow some companies to slow competitors while consolidating market power.
Rapid development and frontier competition
Researchers and safety experts at companies including OpenAI and Anthropic have warned about serious risks from increasingly powerful AI systems, while the United States has opposed a halt because it could weaken its position relative to China.
India’s strategic alignment
Caution, independence and human skills
Vembu says India should pursue an independent AI strategy, build partnerships broadly and avoid becoming entangled in the United States-China technology rivalry.
Rapid development and frontier competition
The article presents global AI development largely through competition between the United States and China, with the United States arguing that slowing development could hand China an advantage.
AI use in learning and work
Caution, independence and human skills
Vembu favors cautious or restricted AI access for junior engineers and careful integration in schools so people develop core skills and independent judgment.
Rapid development and frontier competition
AI can increase short-term productivity, and automation may create demand in other economic sectors even as some software engineering roles come under pressure.
- Speaker
- Sridhar Vembu, Zoho co-founder and chief scientist
- Strategic recommendation
- India should remain friendly with all countries, avoid enemies and keep its AI options open.
- Research priority
- Vembu called for foundational research and development across every sector.
- Estimated research scale
- He said some foundational projects could be pursued with $100 million to $200 million, rather than the tens of billions spent on frontier AI development.
- Main concern
- Overreliance on AI could erode human judgment and skills, particularly among junior professionals and students.
- Employment outlook
- Vembu said software engineering jobs could face pressure, although other categories of work may expand.
- Personal AI use
- He uses AI for tasks such as reviewing language and edits but says he retains responsibility for his own thoughts and judgment.
