At a time when most enterprise software vendors lean on big cloud providers like OpenAI or Google, Zoho is charting its own course—building its own large language model (LLM), dubbed “Zia,” entirely in-house. The company believes this strategy ensures better data privacy, long-term cost savings, and tighter product integration.
Unlike many rivals, Zoho also avoids hyperscalers, relying instead on its own data centers and infrastructure. This approach, though slower and cost-intensive upfront, aligns with its core principles of independence, privacy, and control. CEO Sridhar Vembu sees it as a long-term investment in sovereign tech.
Zoho’s move reflects a broader trend among privacy-conscious and cost-sensitive firms: developing localized AI tools instead of renting from cloud titans. While it won’t match OpenAI’s model scale, Zoho’s in-house approach may prove more sustainable and trusted for its user base.
Source: Jon Reed, Diginomica, July 16, 2025 – Read the full article.
