Zoho founder Sridhar Vembu has shared his views on how India should deal with job and income challenges in the age of AI and automation. In a detailed post on social media platform X, Vembu argued that India should avoid adopting universal basic income (UBI) and instead focus on building strong deep tech capabilities.
Explaining his point, Vembu compared income levels between Switzerland and India. He wrote: “Why does a Swiss school teacher afford an iPhone in 2-4 days of income while an Indian school teacher needs to work 2-4 months for the same thing?”
According to him, the answer lies in a country’s technological strength and how its economy is structured.
The Zoho chief scientist said that countries like Switzerland have strong deep tech capabilities, which allow them to trade on favourable terms globally. This gives them the flexibility to pay better salaries even in non-tech professions.
“If you have the deep tech capability in a region, the regional economy has the option of paying non-tech occupations like teachers, farmers, barbers well,” he explained.
At the same time, he warned that without such capabilities, countries may fall into a cycle of debt.
“If a regional economy does not have the deep tech capability… it has no option but to keep going into debt to the outside world,” he said, adding that such debt is often controlled by technologically advanced nations.
Vembu also said that instead of relying on UBI, India should invest heavily in research and development (R&D). He believes this will create economic strength, which can then be used to improve jobs in areas like farming, education, healthcare, culture and community services.
He described this approach as “Rural Development through Research and Development,” adding that R&D creates economic balance while local development ensures social harmony.
“The jobs part is the political economy and I would spend the tech wealth in nature conservation and sustainable farming and decently paid farmers, good schools and decently paid teachers, good health care and decently paid nurses, good cultural and sports events and decently paid local artists, good religious institutions and decently paid priests and counselors,” he added.
Vembu’s comments come at a time when debates around AI-led job losses and income inequality are growing globally, with many experts discussing UBI as a possible solution.
