Zoho founder Sridhar Vembu argues that societies should respond to AI-driven job losses by creating ways for people to earn beyond conventional employment, rather than paying everyone a universal basic income. His proposal puts the question of who benefits from AI’s productivity at the centre of the debate, not just how many jobs it may displace.
Watch Desk analysis
What happened
India Today reports that Vembu made the argument in a post on X on Monday. He says people could earn through work such as caring for children and older people, restoring nature, making music and sustaining cultural or spiritual traditions. He argues that the challenge for policymakers is to distribute income so people can afford the goods and services produced with less human labour.
Vembu rejects universal basic income, saying it assumes productive assets will be concentrated in a few hands. Instead, he argues that governments should use their power to prevent monopolies. India Today also reports that he believes AI is advancing into intellectual work, including mathematics and software-related work.
Why it matters
This is more than a disagreement over whether the state should send people a regular payment. Vembu’s argument asks what counts as economically valuable work if AI reduces demand for some conventional jobs, and who gets to share in the gains from production.
The practical proposal is broad rather than a worked-out policy plan: the report does not set out how these forms of work would be paid for, or what mechanisms would distribute AI-driven gains. But it makes the policy choice plain. Governments could expand income support directly, or focus on ownership, competition and new ways for people to earn.
Our read
Vembu’s emphasis on care and community work is a useful challenge to the assumption that a job market is the only measure of people’s contribution. The awkward part is the bridge from that idea to a dependable income. Preventing monopolies may matter, but it does not by itself explain how someone caring for a relative or restoring a river gets paid next month.
What to watch
- Whether Vembu or Zoho sets out specific ways to pay for the work he describes.
- How policymakers connect AI-driven productivity gains to wages, income support and ownership.
- Whether debates about AI job losses distinguish between work disappearing and work changing.
Discussion spark: If AI reduces demand for conventional jobs, should governments prioritise direct income support such as UBI, or build ways for people to earn from care, community and environmental work?
Sources and evidence
- Sridhar Vembu says AI job losses need new work, not universal basic income – India Today (12 October 2026, 07:00 UTC)
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