Zoho CEO Sridhar Vembu tried to hire Indian-American venture capitalist Sriram Krishnan back in 2004, only to find Microsoft had already recruited him. The revelation came as Mr Vembu congratulated Mr Krishnan on his appointment as Senior White House Policy Advisor on Artificial Intelligence under US President-elect Donald Trump.

Mr Vembu, in a post on X, said he first came across Sriram Krishnan through his programming blog while he was graduating from SRM University. He described it as one of the early programming blogs from India that impressed him greatly. “I was so impressed I wanted to recruit him, but Microsoft already had recruited him,” he revealed. He added that they stayed in touch over the years as Mr Krishnan moved to Silicon Valley and became an entrepreneur. “President Trump has found a great talent for his technology team!” he concluded.

Congratulations Sriram!

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… https://t.co/t3R7OgO0iz

— Sridhar Vembu (@svembu) December 23, 2024

Reacting to the post, Mr Krishnan responded, “Thank you, Sridhar. You’ve been an inspiration to Aarthi Ramamurthy (his wife) and me (and countless others) for over 20 years.”

Thank you Sridhar. You’ve been an inspiration to @aarthir and me ( and countless others) for over 20 years

— Sriram Krishnan (@sriramk) December 23, 2024

Mr Krishnan’s appointment was officially announced by President-elect Trump on Sunday. In his new role, Mr Krishnan will collaborate with venture capitalist David Sacks to solidify the US’ leadership in artificial intelligence. Mr Krishnan, a technology leader who has worked at Yahoo!, Meta, Twitter/X, and Microsoft, will focus on maintaining American leadership in AI and shaping AI policies across the government.

Known for his deep insights into tech and policy, Mr Krishnan co-hosts “The Aarthi and Sriram Show,” a podcast with his wife, where they discuss topics ranging from US politics to AI regulation. He previously also served as a general partner at venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz. Mr Krishnan has a Bachelor of Technology in Information Technology from SRM Engineering College, Anna University.