- May 1, 2025
‘Where Will We Get Talent?’ Zoho CEO Says Rural India Has The Answer – News18

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The Zoho executive said that while plenty of raw talent exists in India, the entrepreneurial challenge lies in finding and nurturing it.
He explained rural India needs a small “starting seed” of experienced people. (Photo Credit: X)
Zoho Chief Scientist Sridhar Vembu on Thursday addressed doubts about setting up offices in rural areas, highlighting that it’s a misconception that rural regions lack talent. “The most frequent question that people ask when we open a new rural area (like our original Tenkasi office) is ‘where will we get the talent?’ or ‘who will want to work there?’” Vembu said in a post on X (formerly Twitter).
He said that talent is not scarce in rural India. Almost every 30 km radius has over 0.5 to 2 million people. Population density is high. UP has over 1000 people per sq km, so the average rural district has over 3 million people, he noted.
Highlighting the scope of young talent in rural India, Vembu said, “1 million rural population in India have about 15,000 children per year…that many children per year in a 30 km radius district.”
The most frequent question that people ask when we open a new rural area (like our original Tenkasi office) is “where will we get the talent?” or “who will want to work there?”First some raw numbers.
Almost anywhere in India, within a 30 km radius, there are at least 0.5…
— Sridhar Vembu (@svembu) April 30, 2025
The Zoho executive added that while plenty of raw talent exists in India, the entrepreneurial challenge lies in finding and nurturing it. He said that the ‘mantra’ driving this change should be the acknowledgement that “the talent is already there, we just have to find and nurture it”.
To start this chain reaction, Vembu added that some experienced people will need to head back to their rural roots, either for a purpose or to return home. “There are enough such experienced people who are willing to volunteer to move,” he noted.
He further explained that rural India needs a small “starting seed” of experienced people. Like crystal growth, the team grows around them.
“This is the development trajectory I see for India,” he said, before concluding his post.
Agreeing with Vembu’s comments, many users highlighted that India’s development story cannot progress without bringing rural environments to the fore.
“It’s often untapped potential waiting to be discovered!” a user said.
“People from small towns are more hungry because of the lack of opportunities. They want to be nurtured…. Which (resources) they often don’t get. Our companies are obsessed with metros making them overcrowded,” another user highlighted.
- Location :
Delhi, India, India
- First Published: