Do Not Bring North South Politics In AI Center, Zoho CEO Says

Sridhar Vembu, CEO of Zoho, has addressed former Infosys CEO Mohandas Pai's recent comments about the establishment of AI Centers of Excellence (CoEs) in India, particularly regarding the lack of such centers in Bengaluru. 

AI Center Launch:

The Indian government launched three AI Centers in India which are located in CoEs focused on Sustainable Cities at IIT Kanpur, Agriculture at IIT Ropar, and Healthcare in partnership with IIT Delhi and AIIMS Delhi on October 15.

Mohandas Pai Complaints:

Following the AI launch announcement, Mohandas Pai expressed his frustration on X, questioning why Bengaluru, often regarded as India's technology capital, was overlooked in the government’s initiative. 

He also stressed the anger among residents about perceived neglect from the government, urging Prime Minister Narendra Modi to take action to ensure Bengaluru receives its fair share of investment and attention.

"Minister Dharmendra Pradhan nothing in Bengaluru, the technology capital of India? Why are you and Ashwini Vaishnaw ignoring the South in IT, ignoring Bengaluru? Are we not part of Bharat too? Bengaluru voted for NDA but all we get is stepmotherly treatment." Mohandas Pai wrote.

Sridhar Vembu Response:

In response, Zoho CEO Vembhu stated, "I want to respond to this because I was the Co-chair of the apex committee that decided the 3 AI Centres of Excellence." 

He also said that the committee included a significant number of members from the South, and we operated independently of any directives from the government regarding our selections. Our decisions were based on a comprehensive evaluation of the proposals submitted by various institutions.

He continued, I urge everyone to refrain from introducing North-South politics into this discussion. Institutions like IISc Bengaluru, IIT Chennai, NIT Calicut, and IIT Hyderabad all presented compelling proposals, but the ones we chose had outstanding merit and alignment with our vision for the CoEs. The committee was unanimous in its decision, and we stand firmly by our judgment.

"The responsibility for this decision on the AI  Centres of Excellence should be with us in the committee and personally with me as Co-chair and I beg people to not inject North-South politics into this" and added that, "IISc Bengaluru, IIT Chennai, NIT Calicut, IIT Hyderabad, and IIT Mumbai all presented very strong proposals but the ones we selected stood out in the end. The committee was unanimous in this decision. We stand by our judgment." Vembu concluded