Sridhar Vembu, co-founder of Zoho, highlighted the transformative role of AI in rural education, calling it a “massive learning enhancer.” (archive photo) | Image source: Bijoy Ghosh
Sridhar Vembu, co-founder of Zoho, on Tuesday highlighted the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in education, especially for students in rural areas. He emphasized the deployment of AI models specifically designed to assist teachers, enhance learning, and enable students to develop practical projects, including small innovations such as customized electric cars, describing AI as a “tremendous learning enhancer.”
Learning from the ground up
Speaking at the AI Impact Summit in India, Vembu emphasized that Zoho’s initiatives focus on grassroots education, saying the company has “seen education from the ground up.”
We serve a predominantly rural student community, so we have seen education from the ground up.
Focus on the National Liberation Front
The FLN Challenge is what excites me most about using AI tools: to help teachers reach students better. Teachers can use tools to help students improve.
These are small models designed specifically for this purpose and can solve a particular problem well. “We encourage our students to build projects… and nowadays, we are building small, customized electric cars… and here, the way AI works is a huge learning enhancer.”
Youth advantage
Addressing the broader role of AI in India, the ZOHO founder said the country’s youth are in a unique position to embrace new technologies.
“With our large youth population, we have the largest AI-enthusiastic population in the world. We are adopting AI faster than any other country. Our youth are at the forefront now… Right now, we are rapidly deploying AI in software development. We are seeing huge productivity gains in it… There will be new jobs, and software engineers will have to get closer to customers and solve their problems,” he told ANI.
Highlight the top
India is hosting the India AI Impact Summit from February 16-20 at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi, bringing together governments, industry leaders, researchers, startups, students and citizens from around the world. (that I)
The India AI Impact Summit is a five-day program based on three key pillars, or “sutras”: People, Planet, and Progress.
Posted on February 17, 2026
