Together, these solutions empower enterprises to access, build, and distribute intelligent, autonomous digital agents across their organisations.

Beginning today, Zoho and ManageEngine will be previewing pre-built, task-specific Zia Agents, which will deploy across Zoho Corporation’s combined portfolio of 100+ products in the coming weeks.

“The speed of disruption and quality of innovation we’re seeing in our industry right now has encouraged me to focus on my passion area, technology. I will devote more time to hands-on technical work for the company, spearheading several deep R&D initiatives, beginning with AI,” said Sridhar Vembu, Zoho Corporation’s co-founder and chief scientist. “Utilising Zoho’s deep engineering expertise, its own data centres, and shared data model, we will develop powerful and usable solutions that drive customer value while retaining our commitment to customer flexibility and data privacy.”

Zoho Corporation’s in-house AI has evolved over the past decade from proactive to prescriptive to generative to agentic:

Zia: Launched in 2015, Zia is Zoho Corporation’s foundational AI, facilitating all intelligent and contextual actions across the company’s ecosystem of apps.

Zia possesses a vast and diverse skillset. New skills are being implemented regularly to boost customer experience and drive productivity.

Ask Zia: Launched in 2018, Ask Zia has developed into a system-wide conversational assistant that helps employees work smarter and accomplish tasks more effectively.

For example, an account manager can review a report of customers at risk of churn, summarise the outcomes of each customer’s recent interactions, filter and summarise helpdesk tickets, analyse trends in their industry, and reach out to that customer for a meeting based on the employee’s upcoming travel schedule, without leaving the Ask Zia interface.

Ask Zia is powered by Zoho’s unified data platform and will be contextually embedded across all applications.

Zia Agents: Today, Zoho Corporation has previewed some of the several dozens of pre-built Zia Agents that will be rolled out in the coming months, including an Account Manager Agent, SDR Agent, HR Agent, Customer Support Agent, IT Help Desk Agent, and a SalesCoach Agent.

For customers, partners, and developers looking to create their own agents, Zoho is launching Zia Agent Studio, allowing them to build and deploy customised agents with inherited skillsets, which can then be distributed through Zoho’s Agent Marketplace.

• Zia Agent Studio: Offering no-code and low-code experiences, Zia Agent Studio enables users to build autonomous agents with skills relevant to their specific needs. Zia Agent Studio users can also access a wide range of pre-existing Zia Skills, tools from across the Zoho ecosystem, data from a unified data platform, and a range of language models. These can be agents within a function (like an SDR agent or email support agent) or natively cross-functional agents (like an RFP agent or loan approval agent). They can be deployed on any Zoho application and summoned using Ask Zia. Moving forward, Zia Agents will be deployable in any third-party application as well. Additionally, Zia Agents with complementary skillsets can be combined using Zia Agent Studio, creating a single agent capable of cross-functional work.
• Agent Marketplace: Agents created using Zia Agent Studio can be published in the Agent Marketplace. Zoho Corporation will offer a pre-built roster of agents, while the company’s ecosystem of partners and developers can build and distribute specialised AI agents through the marketplace, which can be reused and instantly deployed by organisations.

Organisational Differentiation

Today’s announcement follows record growth for Zoho Corporation, which onboarded 110,000 new customers globally in 2024.

With over 850,000 customers globally in diverse industries, using a range of tools across Zoho and ManageEngine, Zoho Corporation’s AI solutions are informed by a vast range of functional data.

This is a core differentiator for the company, putting it in a unique position to serve businesses with cutting-edge technology.

Technological Differentiation

Zoho Corporation’s distinct technological breadth and depth is a fundamental differentiator, particularly in AI development and deployment.

Leveraging its shared data model, owned and managed tech stack, including global data centres, and a broad application portfolio, Zoho Corporation’s highly secure, privacy-compliant, usable, capable, and deeply knowledgeable AI agents deliver superior technology at a high value to its growing customer base. 

Availability

These capabilities will begin to roll out to a limited set of customers, which will expand monthly.

For over 27 years, the company has continuously expanded its product offerings and global reach, while staying focused on uplifting local communities by providing affordable and accessible technology. 

Zoho’s commitment to facilitating both global and local growth has enabled it to serve over 100 million users across 150+ countries, with a strong emphasis on customer-centric development and sustainable business practices.

Kehinde Ogundare, country head for Zoho Nigeria, highlighted the company’s commendable achievements today, at the Zoholics Lagos Press Conference, sharing detailed statistics that revealed Zoho’s impact and growth over the years.

Ogundare asserted that Zoho currently employs over 15,000 people worldwide, with a presence in 150+ countries. More than 100 million users globally rely on Zoho’s diverse suite of over 55 applications to run their daily business operations. “It’s incredible to see how our software is helping businesses globally, with more than 700,000 paying customers depending on Zoho to manage their operations.”

Since 2005, the company has continued to expand its product offerings and customer base, adding new applications such as Zoho Tables in 2024. Even during the challenges brought by the COVID-19 pandemic, the company developed several new tools, including Zoho Console and Zoho Remotely, which allowed businesses to continue operations seamlessly in a remote environment.

Ogundare revealed that Zoho has grown its revenue 17x over the past decade, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 43% globally over the last three years. “Despite the global uncertainties and economic challenges, particularly in the tech industry, Zoho’s growth has been steady. In 2023 alone, we achieved a 31% growth in Nigeria and 43% in three years,” Ogundare explained.

In Nigeria, the Zoho ecosystem has expanded commendably, with businesses increasingly relying on Zoho’s suite of tools to enhance their efficiency and performance. 

Zoho Workplace, which includes productivity tools such as Zoho Mail, WorkDrive, and Zoho Click, is the most popular product among Nigerian customers. “Zoho Workplace goes beyond being just a suite of tools, it’s an essential platform for businesses to stay connected and productive,” Ogundare noted.

Other popular products in Nigeria include Zoho One, which is described as the “operating system for your business,” allowing companies to manage various departments such as sales, human resources, and finance under one platform. Zoho CRM Plus, Zoho Books, and Zoho Desk are also widely used by Nigerian businesses, particularly in the IT, financial services, and real estate sectors.

Zoho’s growth in Nigeria is further reflected by its outstanding customer base, which includes top-tier companies like MTN and leading real estate firms. Ogundare noted the role of Zoho’s local roots in driving this success, stating, “We believe in being globally connected but locally rooted. This principle has helped us ensure trust and growth in communities like Nigeria.”

Zoho’s unique approach to business growth is also seen in its commitment to long-term employee development. More than 1,000 employees have been with the company for over a decade, and many have risen through the ranks. 

Ogundare proudly shared stories of employees who have transitioned from entry-level positions to senior roles, including a security guard who is now a developer and an IT specialist who became Zoho’s chief evangelist. “At Zoho, we invest in people. When you invest in people, they invest back into your business, helping it grow and succeed,” Ogundare said.

The innovator is driving inclusion through partnerships with She Code Africa, Heels and Tech, CodeTelligence, and many more, giving back to society and bolstering employment growth rates in the African continent. 

In 2020, Zoho’s CEO, Sridhar Vembu, introduced the concept of “transnational locality,” which emphasizes being locally rooted while leveraging global technology and culture.

This approach continues to drive Zoho’s success as it expands its footprint in local communities around the world, including Nigeria.

In addition to ongoing global expansion, the company continues to grow its product portfolio and make investments in automotive, robotics, and health care technologies. 

Zoho also celebrated opening 59 new global hub-and-spoke offices in rural areas and small cities over the last two years to expand into new markets and further support local communities.

The announcement, made at Zoho’s annual analyst summit, affirms the company’s commitment to developing resilient solutions that support all businesses, many of which have been negatively impacted by recent economic disruption.

“We’ve long felt that we have a responsibility to the communities and world around us, whether that be through providing job opportunities to those with less access or by delivering products that help businesses grow to their potential,” said Sridhar Vembu, CEO of Zoho Corporation. 

“Our approach from the start of Zoho—now 26 years ago—still rings true today: nurture people and businesses, and lower the barrier of entry. Cost-effective, yet built-for-scale products and regionally located offices aside, Zoho has built its business by being a partner that helps people thrive. Our success is their success and vice versa.”

Investments

Zoho has made strategic investments in the areas of automotive, robotics, and health care technology to support the development of and access to advanced solutions by those in need. These include: 

• An investment in Silicon Valley-based smart electric utility vehicles and powertrains manufacturer Boson, which focuses on light utility vehicles (LUVs). Boson’s initial focus is on farming, and Zoho shares that focus as it expands into rural areas across the globe.
• An investment in electric motorcycle company Ultraviolette Automotive in partnership with TVS Motor Company, an India-based motorcycle manufacturer. The combined investment totals roughly $15 million and will support the launch of a new, high-performance electric two-wheel vehicle slated for release in 2022.
• A $5 million investment in Voxelgrids, an Indian startup that builds Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scanners. This is being used to foster development of deep technological capabilities and intellectual property (IP) in the country.
• Forming a consortium of local technology companies based in the Kongu region of India. Through this initiative, Zoho will make a capital investment to set up centres in the region focusing on the research and development of critical technologies for capital goods manufacturing, like machine tools, industrial automation software, and production process know-how.
• A $2.5 million investment in Genrobotics, an Indian startup building robotics and AI-powered solutions for social issues such as hazardous working conditions. Zoho’s investment will assist Genrobotics in its mission to eradicate manual scavenging in India and provide safety and dignity to workers in the sanitation and oil and gas industries. 

Innovation and R&D Diversity

Zoho’s investment and innovation philosophies are rooted in the research and development of powerful, unified tools that are customisable to any organisation’s distinct business needs and vision. 

More than 60% of the company’s workforce is devoted to engineering, both in the development of new technologies and in building ways for those apps to complement and integrate with one another. 

To date, Zoho has developed more than 55 apps, having grown from 40 only two years ago. Though the scope of offerings continues to increase, Zoho’s price does not, and Zoho remains committed to affordability—offering both free and paid versions of every product—and delivering software tailored to the distinct needs of small and medium-sized businesses.

Zoho’s Proven Growth Philosophy: Transnational Localism

Zoho continues to celebrate global expansion through its Transnational Localism effort, first introduced in early 2020 as a means to create self-reliant local communities and economies. 

Since then, the initiative has grown to include new global offices, local hiring, partnerships with local organisations and government bodies to lower the technology adoption barrier for businesses, upskilling courses in association with educational institutes, language localisation including RTL support for languages like Arabic, and local pricing for several countries. 

The offices opened as part of Zoho’s Transnational Localism efforts follow a hub-and-spoke model, with larger offices serving as hubs to several dozen small spoke offices located in rural areas and towns around the world. This method of growth allows employees to stay in their hometowns and contribute to their local community while working for a leading, globally recognised technology company.

The company improved access to both software and localised Zoho support, opening 59 hub-and-spoke offices in the last two years. In addition to aggressive expansion into new territories and markets, including Canada, Latin America, the Middle East, Africa, and Southeast Asia, Zoho has announced plans to add 100 new small-scale offices in rural districts across India in the next few years.

Zoho celebrated impressive regional growth, with headcount up 300% outside of India since the start of 2020. It also aims to hire at least 2,000 employees across engineering, technology, and product development, particularly software developers, quality assessment engineers, web developers, designers, product marketers, writers, technical support engineers, and sales executives within the next year.