‘AI is the new UI’: Zoho’s Sridhar Vembu outlines vision for ‘ubiquitous intelligence’

Sridhar Vembu, Co-founder and Chief Scientist of Zoho, recently declared that "AI is the new UI" during a press conference in Chennai, prior to Zoho's annual Zoholics event. He expanded on this concept of "ubiquitous intelligence," explaining that it represents the next stage of AI development, where intelligence becomes integrated into various systems while ensuring appropriate safeguards are in place.

During the conference, Vembu stressed Zoho's commitment to making this intelligence accessible to users at an affordable price. One of the initial products embodying this vision is Zia Chat, an AI interface designed to facilitate smoother and more frictionless work across business systems.

Vembu highlighted the importance of token efficiency, stating that Zia Chat addresses this issue without breaking the bank, which is a global concern. The chat interface is tailored to specific industries, providing contextual depth to enhance the user experience. Furthermore, Zoho has implemented guardrails to ensure privacy and protection of confidential data within Zia Chat.

The company plans to roll out Zia Chat in English initially, with early access anticipated to be available in a month.