Zoho Co-founder Warns AI Could Replace Nine Workers Per Person
Sridhar Vembu warns AI may trigger a painful economic rebalancing while Zoho cuts marketing and pay increases to offset rising server costs.
Zoho Co-founder and Chief Scientist Sridhar Vembu warned on Thursday that artificial intelligence is creating a risk where a single worker using AI tools can perform the work previously handled by ten people. He stated that any job performed on a computer faces this risk, which could trigger a "painful economic rebalancing."
Vembu noted a potential silver lining, arguing that falling costs for digital services may allow smaller industries that previously could not afford software engineers or digital marketers to hire them for the first time. However, he previously cautioned in May that the high valuations of major technology companies driven by AI enthusiasm may represent a market bubble larger than the dot-com era.
To manage these shifts and rising operational expenses, Zoho Corporation Private Limited has reduced its marketing budget and advised employees not to expect standard pay increases this year. Vembu attributed these internal cost-cutting measures to an uncertain software business outlook and a four-fold increase in server prices for data centers driven by AI demands.
