Zoho founder Sridhar Vembu says Indian tech firms are failing at innovation — not for lack of money, but because they don't know how to hold on to people. In a post on X, he pointed to a surprising reason why Indians rose in U.S. tech: visa rules that forced long-term loyalty and, as a result, drove better R&D outcomes. Advertisement

“There is a point about R&D I make repeatedly,” Vembu wrote. “R&D is not expensive but time intensive and best results are achieved by teams who stay committed long term.”

According to Vembu, U.S. tech giants unintentionally cracked this code through the H1-B visa and green card backlog — systems that made it risky for immigrant workers, particularly Indians, to switch jobs. That enforced commitment gave companies stable teams and better innovation.

“Since

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