In a post on X, Sridhar Vembu, Co-Founder and CEO of Zoho, announced that the firm will create a Research and Development centre in Eastern Uttar Pradesh. He expressed the intent to launch the new centre in 2024.
The centre will be based in a rural location. With Vembu noting that this is another step on the journey to spread the Zoho footprint across India. He noted, “I wish we could have a meaningful presence everywhere and may be over the next 20 years we will get there. That is my dream.”
The growth is likely to be cautious, as Vembu added, “We want to create world-class R&D capability wherever we go, and there is a speed limit to how fast you can scale up R&D teams and it is not at all like scaling up manufacturing plants.”
Vembu sees huge potential in rural India to provide a new generation of workers. It helps to create an environment by building schools and other infrastructure. Also offering jobs for rural workers working in technology. Vembu commented, “Today, it’s possible for the daughter of a rural, landless worker to learn how electrical motors or Javascript frameworks work. There are talented local people in rural areas around the world to help, so that communities can work together at home.”
Vembu is proud of his heritage and also stated, “is a treasure trove of talent waiting to be tapped everywhere in Bharat. I am deeply fond of our nation – while I take pride in my Tamil roots, I equally appreciate every state and region and the rich cultural, spiritual, and civilizational legacy they embody.”
The potential in a rural location is huge. In 2011, Zoho created a rural office in Tenkasi, Tamil Nadu. It originally had 10 employees. It is now estimated to have around 900 (Source: BWDisrupt). Earlier this year, Zoho opened an AI R&D centre. Nestled in Kottarakkara, within the College of Engineering campus in Kollam, in the state of Kerala.
Enterprise Times: What does this mean
Zoho continues to expand its transnational localism approach. The new R&D centre is good news for yet another region in India. What is interesting in the post is that this may mean that R&D centres will not be limited to India alone. The firm has a growing presence in Africa, the US and Europe. Zoho looks to help people wherever it is located. In Kenya, it partnered with MOMO Pencils to help improve education. In the US, it opened offices in rural Texas. With offices in Del Valle, New Braunfels and McAllen rather than larger cities.
