Zoom, once synonymous with video meetings, has steadily evolved into a full-scale collaboration and AI-driven productivity suite. In India, the company is not only driving adoption across enterprises, SMBs, and educational institutions but also localising solutions for regulatory compliance and language diversity. In a special interaction, Sameer Raje, General Manager and Head – India & SAARC, Zoom, shares how the company is shaping its India strategy, strengthening data security, expanding its product portfolio, and fostering a culture of innovation and leadership.
Zoom is moving from being known mainly as a video meeting platform to positioning itself as a full-scale collaboration and AI-driven productivity suite. How do you see this transformation influencing Indian organisations? And what elements are you customising specifically for the Indian market?
Let me set some context first. In any organisation today, two things are changing rapidly, technology and talent. Technology is evolving at breakneck speed. AI has existed for decades, but only in recent years has it become mainstream, so much so that even children use it for homework.
On the other hand, talent has to constantly adapt to these changes. In India, we moved from digitisation to ERP systems and other technologies. Initially, employees were excited to adopt new tools, but today, with the sheer pace of change, many feel fatigued. Gartner surveys from 2019 and 2022 confirm this.
This creates a problem. Employees spend nearly 60% of their time on “work about work”, taking notes, coordinating follow-ups, or doing repetitive tasks. That’s where Zoom steps in. Our AI Companion reduces this workload. For example, after this meeting, you’ll automatically receive a summary in your inbox. It can translate summaries across multiple Indian languages, create follow-up tasks, assign owners, or even schedule calendar invites.
For India specifically, we’re focusing on language diversity, regulatory compliance (like DPDP Act, data residency), and industry-specific needs in sectors such as finance and pharma. Customers can define rules around storage, audit trails, and compliance. So, we’re not just reducing “work about work” but also tailoring solutions to Indian organisational needs.
Financial services and healthcare deal with sensitive, proprietary data. What guardrails has Zoom put in place to safeguard such information?
Zoom has been designed with security built in from day one, it’s not an afterthought. Whether it’s Zoom AI Companion, Zoom Mail, Calendar, Chat, Phone, or Contact Centre, security is foundational.
We empower customers to set their own parameters. For example, they can decide whether recordings are stored on local devices or in the cloud. We support Bring Your Own Key (BYOK) encryption, so even Zoom doesn’t have access to encryption keys. We’re also ready for quantum encryption.
Additionally, customers can set policies around duration of storage, communication rights, and restricted words in chats. We also provide watermarking so that any leaked content can be traced. Importantly, we’re the only collaboration platform that lets customers choose which data centres to route their traffic through. This gives organisations unprecedented control over their data security.
You mentioned quantum encryption. Is it being widely used in India?
At this stage, it’s more about quantum readiness. While we offer the infrastructure and encryption parameters, customer environments also need to support decryption. Adoption is still limited, but interest is growing, and we’re prepared as demand rises.
India has become both a growth and innovation hub for Zoom. What new investments or capabilities are you planning here?
Absolutely. India is a complex but high-potential market, and we’re making significant investments. Recently, we launched Zoom Phone in India, a cloud-based telephony system licensed by the Department of Telecommunications. It unifies communication across devices, mobile, landline, or laptop, and allows seamless switching between calls and meetings. We’ve launched it in six telecom circles and are working towards pan-India expansion, which also involves building new data centres and interconnects.
Another focus area is the Zoom Contact Centre. Initially available on a BYOC (Bring Your Own Carrier) model, we are now working on a native model with our own number sets. This omni-channel, AI-powered, video-first contact centre can unify customer interactions across social media, WhatsApp, inbound calls, and more. It’s a unique, first-of-its-kind offering globally and will be a major growth driver.
Zoom serves enterprises, SMBs, startups, educational institutions, and government bodies. How do you adapt your solutions for such diverse needs? Which industries are driving the most demand?
Our solutions are flexible enough to serve all industries and organisation sizes. For instance, Zoom Mail and Calendar are popular with SMBs as proprietary solutions, while enterprises use them to integrate Gmail or Microsoft Outlook into the Zoom client, so employees can work without leaving the platform.
Similarly, Zoom Spaces is widely adopted by enterprises for large meeting rooms, while SMBs use components like digital kiosks. The Zoom AI Companion is seeing broad adoption across both large enterprises and SMBs.
It’s hard to pinpoint one industry, but adoption is strong across sectors because of this flexibility.
And what about the education sector? Post-COVID, it became a huge segment for Zoom.
Yes, absolutely. In education, we see two categories, new-age e-learning platforms and traditional institutions. Both are adopting digital tools, whether for learning management systems, student-parent counseling, or one-on-one mentoring.
Today’s students often prefer private counseling over open environments. Teachers are adapting, and Zoom helps facilitate those interactions. We’ve also seen adoption for helplines, anti-ragging support, and parent-teacher engagement. Even state governments use Zoom to reach rural populations with educational programs. So, it’s far beyond just online classes, it’s become a holistic education enabler.
Shifting gears to leadership, your journey has been from engineering to leading Zoom’s operations in India and SAARC. How has this shaped the way you build teams and mentor future leaders?
My seven years at Zoom have been exciting, no two days have felt the same. Despite long hours at times, I’ve always felt a strong sense of belonging here. That culture of care, for customers, partners, and colleagues, comes from the top and drives everything we do.
I was part of Zoom India from day one, right from registering the company to scaling across multiple locations. Along the way, I’ve mentored not just colleagues in India but globally as well. The principle of caring as a core value has shaped my leadership style and is something I’ll carry throughout my career.
Given the pace of technology change, do you still see a skills gap when hiring or onboarding talent?
Yes, there is a skills gap, but there’s also something equally important, a cultural gap. At Zoom, we balance skills with cultural fit. A highly skilled individual may fail if they don’t align with our values, while someone with moderate skills but strong cultural alignment can thrive because skills can be taught, but values cannot.
This is why we often hire based on cultural values and growth potential, even if candidates come from unconventional backgrounds. In India, hiring often focuses narrowly on past experience, but we believe in looking at the whole person, their values, adaptability, and willingness to grow. That’s been a key part of my hiring philosophy.