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Zoho Corp Founder and CEO Sridhar Vembu has stepped down from his role as Chief Executive Officer.

Vembu, who built the SaaS giant in 1996, will take on the role of Chief Scientist, where he will lead Zoho’s deep R&D initiatives and pursue his personal rural development mission.

“A new chapter begins today. In view of the various challenges and opportunities facing us, including recent major developments in AI, it has been decided that it is best that I should focus full-time on R&D initiatives, along with pursuing my personal rural development mission. I will step down as CEO of Zoho Corp and take a new role as Chief Scientist, responsible for deep R&D initiatives,” said Vembu in a post on X on Monday.

Following this transition, Co-founder Shailesh Kumar Davey will take over as the Group CEO. Tony Thomas, also a Co-founder, will head Zoho’s US operations. Rajesh Ganesan will lead the ManageEngine division, and Mani Vembu will take charge of the Zoho.com division.

“The future of our company entirely depends on how well we navigate the R&D challenge and I am looking forward to my new assignment with energy and vigor. I am also very happy to get back to hands-on technical work,” he added.