Archive · 24 Sep 2026
Zoho’s Vembu Says AI Has Boosted Developer Productivity
Sridhar Vembu says AI is already helping software developers work faster.
He estimates that productivity has improved by about 30% to 50% during the process of releasing products.
He thinks AI could eventually make developers four to five times more productive in the near future.
Over a longer period, he believes the improvement could reach 10 times.
AI may take over more tasks involved in building software.
Because of this, developers may need to understand specific industries better.
Zoho is expanding its AI tools, including one called Zia Chat.
Zoho also makes software for industries such as healthcare, education, banking and restaurants.
Sridhar Vembu said AI has improved productivity by about 30% to 50% across the product-release lifecycle.
He expects near-term AI productivity gains to reach four to five times current levels.
Vembu said longer-term improvements could reach 10 times current productivity.
He believes industry knowledge will become more important as AI handles more software-development tasks.
Zoho launched Zia Chat and offers vertical software for seven sectors, including healthcare, education and banking.
- Who
- Sridhar Vembu and Zoho.
- What
- Vembu said AI has already improved developer productivity and could produce much larger gains in the future.
- When
- The comments were reported as Zoho expands its AI efforts; no specific date was provided.
- Where
- The report cites CNBC-TV18; no specific location was provided.
- Why
- AI is being used at different stages of software development, while Zoho is expanding its AI and industry-specific software offerings.
- Current productivity gain
- About 30% to 50% across the product-release lifecycle
- Near-term estimate
- Four- to five-fold productivity improvement
- Long-term estimate
- Up to 10 times higher productivity
- AI product
- Zia Chat, a conversational interface for searching information, understanding business context and performing tasks
- Vertical software sectors
- Seven sectors, including retail, automotive, banking and financial services, healthcare, education, real estate and restaurants
- Expected developer shift
- Greater importance of industry and domain knowledge alongside technical skills