Must invest in critical tech, India got bad advice from economists trained at Columbia, Chicago, Harvard: Zoho’s Sridhar Vembu

Sridhar Vembu

India needs to invest aggressively in critical technologies to secure its economic future and reduce dependence on foreign systems that can be weaponized, Zoho Corp’s founder and Chief Scientist Sridhar Vembu told Moneycontrol during an interview on October 13.

Vembu warned that decades of misguided economic advice from Western-trained economists have left the country vulnerable and unprepared for a rapidly changing global order.

“We have to invest in all of the critical technologies so that nothing can be weaponized against us. When we buy something, we must also sell something equally valuable. That is the whole idea,” Vembu said, emphasising that India must trade on equal terms with global powers.

Watch the full video interview here

He criticised the economic policies influenced by experts from Western universities, which he says failed to understand the strategic implications of global trade.

“Unfortunately, we got very poor economic advice, particularly from economists trained in the West, from Columbia, Chicago, Harvard. They don’t understand trade asymmetries or how technologies can be weaponized. They told us to focus only on services and buy everything else for money. But what is money in the global system?” Vembu said.

Zoho founder argued that the global financial and trade systems are increasingly unstable, describing them as being built on a “monetary illusion”. He cited the 2008-09 financial crisis as the first major crack in that illusion, one that policymakers failed to address.

“Even today, the global system is very unstable. The tensions between the US and China are inevitable because one is a massive exporter and the other a massive importer. You cannot keep going that way forever,” he said.

Calling for balanced trade, Vembu said India must avoid both large deficits and surpluses and focus on technological self-reliance to restore equilibrium.

“We are heading towards a world where we must trade on equal terms. That will require sacrifices and hard work to build these technologies ourselves,” he said. Vembu’s remarks come as the government has set off to pursue a dual-track strategy in artificial intelligence (AI), welcoming global AI companies while simultaneously nurturing domestic capabilities.

At the India Mobile Congress, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) Additional Secretary Abhishek Singh told Moneycontrol that India’s approach to AI is “open” and inclusive.

“We are one of those countries which doesn’t shy away from letting American or Western companies operate in India, while we build up our own capabilities,” Singh said.