# Shailesh Kumar Davey

> Shailesh Kumar Davey is a co-founder and Group CEO of Zoho Corporation, appointed in January 2025 after a long engineering career within the company. An IIT Madras alumnus and former Tata-IBM engineer, he previously served as vice president of engineering at ManageEngine. His public interviews emphasise customer feedback, team autonomy, long-term investment, local talent development and AI models sized for specific business tasks.

- **Role:** Co-founder and Group CEO at Zoho Corporation
- **Organizations:** Zoho Corporation, ManageEngine, AdventNet, Tata-IBM
- **Education:** Bachelor of Technology in Metallurgy, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Master of Technology in Industrial Management, Indian Institute of Technology Madras
- **Known for:** Co-founded the enterprise software business that became Zoho Corporation., Helped develop Zoho’s engineering organisation and rapid application development tool., Became Zoho Corporation Group CEO in January 2025.

## Career timeline

- **1992** — Graduated from IIT Madras with a BTech in metallurgy.
- **Before 1996** — Worked at Tata-IBM on networking-related projects.
- **1996** — Co-founded AdventNet, the company later renamed Zoho Corporation.
- **2001** — As an engineering leader, assigned new employee Girish Mathrubootham to customer support; helped navigate the telecom and dot-com downturn.
- **Before 2025** — Served as vice president of engineering at ManageEngine; worked on network-management frameworks, engineering processes and data infrastructure.
- **2025-01-27** — Succeeded Sridhar Vembu as Zoho Corporation Group CEO; Vembu became chief scientist.
- **2026-06** — Discussed technology ownership and local engineering skills at the launch of Zoho’s Nathu La server platform.

## Achievements

- Co-founded the enterprise software business that became Zoho Corporation.
- Helped develop Zoho’s engineering organisation and rapid application development tool.
- Became Zoho Corporation Group CEO in January 2025.
- Contributed to the company’s long-term work on data, databases and data centres.

## Latest updates

- **2026-10** — During Davey’s tenure as Group CEO, co-founder and chief scientist Sridhar Vembu publicly said Zoho could not provide its usual annual pay increases, citing higher server prices, rising AI costs and uncertainty; he also said marketing spending had been reduced.
- **2026-06** — Zoho launched its Nathu La server platform; Davey linked it to technology ownership, reducing inference costs and developing local talent.
- **2026-02** — In a CXO Insight Middle East interview, Davey discussed internal product testing, privacy, platform development, cybersecurity and local teams.
- **2026-01** — At Zoho ERP’s Kumbakonam launch, Davey highlighted local talent, upskilling and regional development.
- **2026-01** — Discussed Southeast Asian growth, affordability, local offices, data centres and remaining privately funded in an interview with Katadata.

## Links

- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shailesh-davey-281638/

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/shailesh-kumar-davey
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-10-22