'I wanted to hire him in 2004': Zoho CEO as Trump picks Sriram Krishnan as senior policy advisor on AI

Chennai-based SaaS giant Zoho's CEO, Sridhar Vembu, recently took to X (formerly Twitter) to congratulate Indian-American entrepreneur Sriram Krishnan on being appointed as the White House's Senior Policy Advisor on AI.

In a recent post on Truth Social, U.S. President-elect Donald Trump announced the appointment of Sriram Krishnan as the Senior Policy Advisor for Artificial Intelligence at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP).

Vembu also shared that he had been impressed by Krishnan's talent and had wanted to hire him back in 2004.

"Back in 2004, when Sriram was graduating from SRM University, I came across his blog - one of the early programming blogs from India at that time. I was so impressed I wanted to recruit him but Microsoft already had recruited him.  We have been in touch on and off as he later moved to silicon valley and became an entrepreneur," Vembu wrote.

"President Trump has found a great talent for his technology team!" he added.

Congratulations Sriram!

Back in 2004, when Sriram was graduating from SRM University, I came across his blog - one of the early programming blogs from India at that time. I was so impressed I wanted to recruit him but Microsoft already had recruited him. We have been in touch… https://t.co/t3R7OgO0iz

— Sridhar Vembu (@svembu) December 23, 2024

In response to Vembu's post, Sriram Krishnan wrote, "Thank you Sridhar. You’ve been an inspiration to @aarthir and me ( and countless others) for over 20 years."

Thank you Sridhar. You’ve been an inspiration to @aarthir and me ( and countless others) for over 20 years

— Sriram Krishnan (@sriramk) December 23, 2024