Zoho's Sridhar Vembu shares thoughts on Artificial Intelligence hype: 'I prefer working down in...'

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has been a hot topic for the past few years, dominating discussions in both technology and business. The field has seen massive investments from major tech companies. However, some experts believe that the hype around AI might be slowing down.

Sridhar Vembu, founder of Zoho, recently shared his thoughts on the state of AI. In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Vembu listed various practical applications of AI that are currently in use. He emphasised that many of these applications have existed long before the rise of large language models (LLMs) and were originally categorised under “machine learning.”

Vembu highlighted several areas where AI is useful today, including:

-Speech-to-text and text-to-speech conversion

-Image recognition and authentication

-Optical character recognition (OCR) and data extraction from images and PDFs

-Spam, phishing, and fraud detection

-Security threat analysis

-Identifying patterns in various fields such as finance, medicine, and law

-Programmer assistance, such as code generation and debugging

-Marketing content creation, including brochures, websites, and email campaigns

While acknowledging AI’s advancements, Vembu warned against overhyping the technology. He pointed out that Wall Street often seeks quick results, which AI cannot always deliver. According to him, AI’s real potential lies in creating workflows and autonomous agents, but these are still in early stages, much like self-driving cars. He advised investors and businesses to temper their expectations.

Vembu also spoke about the importance of research and development in AI. He cautioned against reckless spending fueled by hype. “When hype meets Wall Street, a lot of money gets thrown at it—whether it was the optical bubble, real estate bubble, or now the AI bubble. Eventually, Wall Street gets tired and moves on. That’s when real engineers get excited,” he said.

Despite the changing investment landscape, Vembu remains optimistic about AI’s future. He believes that the real progress happens when the hype fades, and engineers focus on meaningful innovations. For now, he prefers to work behind the scenes, surfacing occasionally to share insights.