5
Shailesh Kumar Davey
Co-founder and Group Chief Executive Officer
2025 – Present
1 year (current)
Legacy
Co-founder who previously led engineering at ManageEngine; became group CEO in January 2025.
Zoho
Indian SaaSEnterprise SoftwareFounded 1996- HQ today: Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India (US operations in Austin, Texas)
Reviewed by Swet Parvadiya
Company data updated: October 2026
Leadership History
Zoho: CEO History
5 leaders · 1996 to present
Who is the CEO of Zoho?
Shailesh Kumar Davey is the CEO of Zoho, in the role since 2025. The first chief executive was Sridhar Vembu, from 1996.
- Current CEO
- Shailesh Kumar Davey (since 2025)
- First CEO
- Sridhar Vembu (1996)
- Leaders documented
- 5
- Founded
- 1996
| Name | Role | From | To | Years in role |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shailesh Kumar Davey | Co-founder and Group Chief Executive Officer | 2025 | Present | 1 |
| Rajesh Ganesan | CEO, ManageEngine | 2025 | Present | 1 |
| Mani Vembu | CEO, Zoho.com | 2025 | Present | 1 |
| Sridhar Vembu | Co-founder; CEO 1996-2025, now Chief Scientist | 1996 | 2025 | 29 |
| Tony Thomas | Co-founder and CEO, Zoho US | 1996 | Present | 30 |
Company Overview
Zoho Corporation was founded in 1996 as AdventNet, making network management software for telecom equipment makers. After the dot-com downturn it built ManageEngine for corporate IT teams, then moved into web-based business applications from 2005 and renamed itself Zoho Corporation in 2009. In February 2026, its 30th year, Zoho said it had more than one million paying organisations, 150 million users and about 19,000 employees. Shailesh Kumar Davey has led the group as CEO since January 2025. The company is headquartered in Chennai, India.
Zoho sells software subscriptions and licences directly to businesses of all sizes. In FY25 the Zoho suite, which covers CRM, finance, collaboration, HR, support and the Zoho One bundle, brought in ~$818 million (₹7,051 crore), or 57% of revenue. ManageEngine, which sells IT service management, endpoint, identity and network monitoring tools to IT teams, brought in ~$564 million (₹4,863 crore) (39%). Services added ~$46.3 million (₹399 crore). Zoho runs its applications on servers in its own data centres instead of renting public cloud capacity, and it relies heavily on in-house engineering rather than acquisitions. North America is its largest market.
4
Rajesh Ganesan
CEO, ManageEngine
2025 – Present
1 year (current)
Legacy
Leads the ManageEngine IT management division.
3
Mani Vembu
CEO, Zoho.com
2025 – Present
1 year (current)
Legacy
Leads the Zoho.com business applications division.
2
Sridhar Vembu
Co-founder; CEO 1996-2025, now Chief Scientist
1996 – 2025
29 years
Legacy
Led the company from its founding as AdventNet until January 2025 and kept it free of outside capital; now focuses on research and AI.
1
Tony Thomas
Co-founder and CEO, Zoho US
1996 – Present
30 years (current)
Legacy
Co-founded AdventNet and leads Zoho's US business.
Challenges & Strategic Context
Zoho competes with much larger vendors such as Salesforce, Microsoft and Google, which can bundle CRM, productivity and AI features into existing enterprise contracts. Profit was slightly lower in FY25 (~$370 million (₹3,191 crore) versus ~$383 million (₹3,299 crore) in FY24) even as revenue rose 17.7%, reflecting heavier spending on product development and infrastructure. Building AI features, expanding data centres into new countries, and winning large enterprise accounts all require sustained investment.
Zoho CEO and Leadership FAQ
Who has served as the Chief Executive Officer of Zoho Corporation?
Co-founder Sridhar Vembu has served as Chief Executive Officer of Zoho Corporation since 2000, becoming globally recognized for his radical bootstrapping and rural development philosophy.
What was Sridhar Vembu's educational and early career background?
Vembu earned an electrical engineering degree from IIT Madras and a PhD from Princeton University, working as a wireless systems engineer at Qualcomm in San Diego before co-founding AdventNet.
Why did Sridhar Vembu relocate to a rural village in Tamil Nadu?
In 2019, Vembu moved his permanent personal and professional residence to Mathalamparai, a village near Tenkasi, working remotely to demonstrate that cutting-edge global tech can thrive in villages.
What prestigious national honor did Sridhar Vembu receive?
In 2021, the Government of India awarded Sridhar Vembu the prestigious Padma Shri—India's fourth-highest civilian award—recognizing his contributions to trade, industry, and rural development.
What is Sridhar Vembu's view on public stock markets and venture capital?
Vembu adamantly rejects taking Zoho public or raising venture capital, arguing that public markets force short-term quarterly thinking that ruins customer service, research patience, and employee well-being.
Who are the other key senior leaders working alongside Sridhar Vembu?
Key longtime leaders include co-founder and Chief Scientist Tony Thomas, Chief Executive of ManageEngine Shailesh Davey, and Chief Strategy Officer Vijay Sundaram.
How did Sridhar Vembu steer Zoho through the COVID-19 pandemic?
Vembu instituted a strict no-layoff pledge, launched the Emergency Subscription Relief Plan for financially distressed clients, and expedited the rollout of rural hub-and-spoke offices.
What is Sridhar Vembu's broader economic mission for India?
Vembu aims to develop domestic industrial capital goods and semiconductor technology in India, reinvesting Zoho's wealth into building sovereign deep-tech manufacturing capabilities.
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