Sridhar Vembu compares Big Tech to East India company, says it is time for tech sovereignty

Zoho founder and chief scientist Sridhar Vembu believes India must work to reduce its dependence on foreign Big Tech to preserve its sovereignty. He says that Big Tech nowadays is like the East India Company.

In 2026, when it comes to sovereignty of a country, it is no longer just about fighter jets, borders or military strength. Many nations are realising this, and Zoho founder and chief scientist Sridhar Vembu hopes that India too will understand it. In a post on X aka Twitter, Vembu on Tuesday compared the Big Tech to the East India Company and hoped that India would cut its reliance on foreign tech.

Vembu believes that India’s long-term economic well-being and national security could be compromised if the country continues to rely heavily on foreign technology platforms. He compares US-based Big Tech companies like Google, Meta, OpenAI, Amazon and others to the East India Company, arguing that countries like India are currently supplying resources and data to US-based companies, while remaining dependent on their foreign-owned platforms for critical operations. This allows these tech companies to extract value from local markets and consolidate power and profits, which they move outside the country.

According to Vembu, reducing reliance on foreign technology is no longer a choice but a strategic necessity that governments, in India specifically, must focus on in order to boost economic resilience and build better national security. Drawing parallels with Europe, where countries such as France are beginning to act on technology sovereignty, Vembu suggests that India too must prioritise technological self-reliance.

Reacting to reports that France plans to phase out platforms such as Microsoft Teams and Zoom in favour of a European alternative, Vembu said the move reflects a growing recognition that digital dependence can weaken a nation’s autonomy.

“The very definition of a sovereign nation should now include technology sovereignty,” wrote Vembu. “Big Tech now is the New East India company and Europeans are now waking up to it. History seems to rhyme with irony.”

This is not the first time the Zoho founder has made arguments in favour of India focusing on tech sovereignty. He has long been vocal about the need for India to build and control its own technology stack, ranging from enterprise software to strategic hardware. Vembu has repeatedly warned that excessive dependence on multinational technology firms not only raises concerns around data security and policy autonomy, but also limits India’s ability to build deep, foundational technology products.