'Speak the customer's language': Zoho's Sridhar Vembu wades into the raging Hindi debate, sparks furore

Zoho founder and chief scientist Sridhar Vembu on Monday waded into the raging Hindi language debate, saying the link language of the Indian customer is Hindi and this is not just in Hindi-speaking states.

“You can get by with Hindi in Hyderabad or Bhvaneshwar (sic Bhubaneswar) or in Kolkata. Unlike English, no one in India judges you for speaking broken Hindi - they appreciate your effort,” Vembu said in a post on X.

“Now that globalization is going in reverse, we have to rely on India's own vast domestic market ($4+ trillion GDP and growing!),” explained Vembu.

Citing an example from Tamil Nadu, Vembu said: “In Tamil Nadu we learned English to do business globally, because you speak the language of your customer, you don't get to dictate what the customer speaks.”

Vembu’s post comes after he met an Odiya entrepreneur who spoke in “halting English”, making its easier to understand with “halting Hindi”.  “Last week I met a smart Odiya entrepreneur (and Zoho customer) hailing from a small village, and he spoke halting English but his Hindi is quite decent. He was forced to use English to speak to me. My speaking halting Hindi mixed with English words would have been easier for us to do business. That is what I am aiming to get to,” he said.

This is how a practical business person thinks, added Vembu. “You can attack me all you want but if you are a business person, you would be smart to take this advice! I am generally immune to being mercilessly attacked so thank you for wasting your time rather than fighting out how to get ahead in life,” said Vembu.

Earlier this year, Vembu announced his decision to step down as CEO of Zoho. In a post on X, Vembu revealed that he would now focus on spearheading research and development initiatives in his new role as Chief Scientist. He also reiterated his commitment to his rural development mission.

In December 2024, Vembu sparked a national conversation over work culture when he criticized the idea of a '70-hour work week,' warning against its potential to trigger demographic decline. His comments contrasted sharply with Infosys co-founder Narayana Murthy’s advocacy for longer work hours to leverage India’s demographic dividend and compete with economies like China.

At Zoho's annual analyst event, ZohoDay25, held this year in Austin, Texas, Vembu shared his views about the future of artificial intelligence and its implications for businesses and costs. As chief scientist, Vembu now plans to take a hands-on approach, undertaking deep R&D in AI while leveraging Zoho's engineering expertise, proprietary data centres, and shared data models to develop value-driven, customer-centric solutions.