Wanted to hire him in 2004, but...: Zoho CEO on Trump's new AI Advisor Sriram Krishnan

'We have been in touch on and off as he later moved to Silicon Valley and became an entrepreneur,' Zoho CEO Sridhar Vembu said.

With US President-elect Donald Trump on Sunday naming Indian American entrepreneur, venture capitalist and author Sriram Krishnan as Senior White House Policy Advisor on Artificial Intelligence, Zoho CEO Sridhar Vembu recalled the time when he had tried to hire Krishnan for his team.

In a post on X, Vembu said, "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. President Trump has found a great talent for his technology team!"

Krishnan, who has previously led product teams at Microsoft, Twitter, Yahoo!, Facebook and Snap, will work along with David O Sacks who will be the White House AI & Crypto Czar.

Thanking Trump for the post, Krishnan had written on X, " I'm honored to be able to serve our country and ensure continued American leadership in AI working closely with @DavidSacks. Thank you @realDonaldTrump for this opportunity."

Trump, in his post on Truth Social, had said, "Working closely with David Sacks, Sriram will focus on ensuring continued American leadership in AI and help shape and coordinate AI policy across government, including working with the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology. Sriram started his career at Microsoft as a founding member of Windows Azure.”

Krishnan's appointment has been welcomed by the Indian American community.

“We heartily congratulate Sriram Krishnan and are delighted that he has been appointed by President-elect Donald Trump as Senior Policy Advisor in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy,” said Indiaspora’s executive director Sanjeev Joshipura.

President-elect Donald Trump, having won the US Presidential elections in November against Democrat and current Vice-President Kamala Harris, will officially takeover from current US President Joe Biden on January 20, 2025.

(With PTI inputs)