In a counter-response to TV Mohandas Pai, Zoho CEO Sridhar Vembu defended the integrity of the selection process for the AI centres.

Zoho CEO Sridhar Vembu responds to Mohandas Pai's criticism of the government's decision to establish AI Centres of Excellence in North India, explaining that the selection process was thorough and unbiased,

Sridhar Vembu responded to a post by Mohandas Pai questioning why Bengaluru was picked for the government's AI Centres of Excellence (CoE) plan.

Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan recently announced plans to establish three AI Centres of Excellence to strengthen India’s capabilities in AI. IIT Delhi and AIIMS will spearhead the healthcare CoE,

Mohandas Pai questioned the lack of a Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru, accusing the government of neglecting southern India. Sridhar Vembu, however, defended the CoE selections with many X users supporting Vembu's stance.

Zoho CEO Sridhar Vembu reacted to former Infosys CFO Mohandas Pai's post in which he slammed the Centre for 'ignoring' Bengaluru while launching a major AI initiative in India.

He highlighted that institutions like IISc Bengaluru, IIT Chennai, NIT Calicut, and IIT Hyderabad presented strong proposals but noted that the final selections were made based on merit.

On Tuesday, Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan launched three AI centers: one at IIT-Kanpur, one at IIT-Ropar, and a joint center at IIT-Delhi and AIIMS.