I have been doing video interviews with a number of CIOs, software executives and practitioners about acrobatics they have been seeing in various vertical sectors during the COVID-19 crisis and the "New normal" they can expect as the economy wakes up.
This time it is Sridhar Vembu, CEO of Zoho Corp.
We talk about some of their heroics. Zoho was one of the first technology vendors to launch a set of tools, Remotely to help customer employees work from home. And several thousand customers have been grateful for Zoho's emergency assistance of subscription waiver during the crisis. In a feel-good section he describes how many customers have asked them to save the offer for needier customers. We also talk about how cloud applications have scaled impressively to help businesses during this lockdown.
Just as impressively, Zoho's employees have been preparing and delivering 10,000 meals a day to the needy, been designing UV sanitation devices and have built a hospital on their campus.
When I last met him in Austin, TX in February we had talked about his passion for rural revival and the world of digital nomads. That was prophetic - we did not know the world would soon have severe food supply chain disruptions. We also did not know so many of us would be quarantined. We revisit his philosophy on both topics.
One of the most motivational sections in the conversation is when I ask him how he manages to stay so positive and lead during the crisis. He responds "Pain is real, suffering is optional". What a great attitude for our turbulent times!
By the wonders of modern technology, he did his session on a 4G mobile network from a remote village in Tenkasi in Southern India, at the edge of a wildlife sanctuary. I used Google Meet for the first time. Other sessions in this series have mostly been on Zoom. Next time, we will use Zoho Meeting, or even better, meet in person.
Very inspirational session!
