Zoho founder and CEO Sridhar Vembu issued a cautionary message to tech professionals on Sunday via social media, warning that high salaries in the software industry may not be sustainable in the long run.
Comparing tech salaries to those of mechanical engineers, civil engineers, chemists, and teachers, Vembu emphasized that earning a hefty paycheck in tech is not a “birthright.” He warned that the current pay scale shouldn’t be assumed to last forever, highlighting the potential for professional disruption. “We can’t take it for granted,” he said, also reminding that customer willingness to pay for products is not guaranteed either.
Citing Intel co-founder Andy Grove’s famous quote, “Only the paranoid survive,” Zoho CEO Sridhar Vembu remarked, “The productivity revolution I foresee in software development—driven by LLMs and advanced tools—has the potential to eliminate many software jobs. It’s a sobering reality, but one we must come to terms with.”
The Zoho chief scientist’s assertions about AI-driven productivity leading to significant job losses echo the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) January 2024 report, which warned that nearly 40% of jobs worldwide could be affected by artificial intelligence.
A user named Manvendra Singh, who calls himself the ‘AI Whisperer,’ responded to Sridhar Vembu by referencing Harvard Professor Clayton Christensen’s disruption theory. He explained how new technologies often begin in overlooked markets before scaling up to disrupt industry leaders—like how digital cameras, invented by Kodak in 1975, eventually toppled the company, which clung to its profitable film business and lost 80% of its workforce by 2012.
Singh continued by drawing parallels to AI’s impact on software engineering, noting that tools like GitHub Copilot have increased productivity by 55% (McKinsey, 2024), putting routine jobs at risk. However, with over 90,000 software positions posted in January 2025 (Aura Intelligence), the sector still shows strength. Looking ahead, he said AI agents might manage entire codebases by 2030 (XBSoftware, 2024), opening new opportunities for AI integration specialists.
