Life at Zoho
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Describe your current role in the organization.

organization

I am handling three roles:

  1. Product Manager - I lead a team of product managers, set the product vision, understand the market, introduce features, make them more user-friendly, and align the product for enterprise readiness.
  2. Enterprise Product Manager - I work closely with enterprise customers to enhance their productivity, strengthen connections with the product team, and build trust. One key outcome is converting customers into advocates.
  3. CX Product Strategist - I am responsible for managing analyst relations, articulating our vision, showcasing product capabilities, and participating in evaluations.

What role does Zoho’s company culture play in your identity and the work that you do?

The company’s culture aligns closely with my mindset. We prioritize transparency over hierarchy, wisdom over experience, permanent solutions over quick fixes, and long-term goals over short-term gains. It’s not just about building great products, but also about nurturing the great people behind them.

What were the highest and lowest points of your journey with Zoho?

There were many low points, most of them occurring when I was struggling to get into new projects. However, these moments were brief, and once I gained a grip on those challenges, they turned into the high points of my journey.

journey

Your most embarrassing blunder?

There were a lot. To name a few:

When I shipped the first version of Zoho CRM internally in 2004, we encountered a security issue that prompted immediate attention. The SDP (a product from ManageEngine, another brand in Zoho Corp.) head, sarcastically commented on the forum post about it. It was an embarrassing moment for me personally, as it highlighted the importance of more stringent measures. Sridhar Vembu, who has always been committed to the highest standards of security, immediately emphasized the need for enhanced protocols, which shaped the way we approached future releases.

I wrote the migration code to transition our systems from a native authentication setup to Zoho’s SaaS/IAM model. At one point, we encountered an unexpected issue that could have affected data integrity. It was a tense moment, but thanks to the proactive support of a colleague from the SAS team, Ritesh Kumar Rathi (Ex-Zoho), who had developed a safeguard codebase, we were able to mitigate any potential risk. I’m continually grateful for that team's foresight and commitment in anticipating product-level blunders like this. It's moments like these that underscore the value of shared knowledge and proactive planning in delivering secure and reliable solutions.

hobbies

What are your hobbies or favorite activities outside of work?

My hobbies and favorite activities include cricket, singing, playing the flute, cooking, and spending time with friends and family.

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