ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
Why Indians lead big tech: Vembu credits loyalty
Zoho founder and CEO Sridhar Vembu credited India's culture of loyalty to the meteoric rise in the number of Indian origin top execs.
-
Jeffin T. Kaleekal - Wed, 04, Feb 2026
- 02:42 EST
- 10
Sridhar Vembu / Sridhar Vembu via X
As each global bigshot company announces its latest hire to its top posts, the debate on why people of Indian origin are often the top picks gets intensified. While many attribute this to India's culture of hard-work or the 'run fast or you will be like a broken anda' philosophy from '3 Idiots', Zoho founder and CEO Sridhar Vembu disagrees.
The debate was sparked when KnotDating CEO Jasveer Singh claimed that it was India's extensive academic pressure and high population that formed these diamonds. He argued that the pressure ensured that only the strongest survive the pressure and they end up becoming world leaders.
Vembu, however, disagreed with Singh's assessment and credited India's culture of loyalty for the global phenomenon.
ALSO READ: Zoho founder urges parents to let kids skip college and work
Vembu argued that Indian employees are often the most loyal people in the workplace with Indians being more likely to stay at the same company for decades. This works to their advantage, according to Vembu, because, "Over time, cultural continuity in an organization tends to be with those who stayed long term and it is those people who get promoted. That would explain why Indians are at the top in so many companies in America."
His thesis is Indians must perform or perish due to our population and a few rise to the top in Western orgs under that pressure.
— Sridhar Vembu (@svembu) February 3, 2026
I will offer a different explanation: Indian employees are some of the most loyal to their organizations and American corporations get to experience… https://t.co/LROGd4wSSd
He also remarked that Indians often view their organizations as extended families. According to Vembu, "Indians tend to view their organizations in a similar way, as extended family networks, and the org loyalty arises from this cultural value system. For Indians, the slogan executives often abuse "We are one family" is not just lip service.
This loyalty gets compounded with the immigrant drive to succeed that is shared by all immigrant groups and isn't unique to Indians. He notes, "every new immigrant group to America has outperformed the "already there" groups - known as the "immigrant drive". That is not special to Indians."
Vembu believes that these two factors, namely, organizational loyalty and immigrant drive come together to ensure that Indians stay at the top of the food chain.
Discover more at New India Abroad.
Related
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
E Paper
Video
Comments
Start the conversation
Become a member of New India Abroad to start commenting.
Sign Up Now
Already have an account? Login