Zoho's Sridhar Vembu says English obsession is holding back India’s innovation: 'It's a useful language to know but...'

Sridhar Vembu, the founder of Zoho, believes that India's deep focus on English is limiting its innovation potential. Reacting to a report on China's declining interest in English, Vembu argued that India does not need English dominance to succeed in technology.

"I am working with highly skilled engineers on advanced technology, and we speak in Tamil because that is their most comfortable language," he said.

I am right now working with extremely capable engineers on some advanced tech and we converse in Tamil because that is what they are most comfortable with. I am (very!) slowly learning Hindi so I can work with engineers in Hindi too. There is a lot of R&D talent in India if we… https://t.co/3p9XwaEAeF

— Sridhar Vembu (@svembu) January 29, 2025

Vembu has long supported the use of local languages in technology. He pointed out that India's research and development (R&D) sector is full of talent but is held back by the English language barrier and the social pressure of speaking fluent English.

"English is useful, but it should not define success," Vembu stated. "Most Indians are not fluent in English, so it should not be a barrier to progress."

He also expressed admiration for China’s approach to technology and learning. "The Chinese inspire me," he said, adding that he is slowly learning Hindi to collaborate better with Hindi-speaking engineers.

Vembu also spoke about China's latest artificial intelligence breakthrough, DeepSeek, saying that India has the potential to achieve similar success.

"This is a must-read for every Indian engineer who asks, ‘Why can't India do what China did?’ The short answer: India can. It’s not that hard," he wrote.