How Zoho Is Rewriting Enterprise Software: ZohoDay 2026 Analyst Roundtable

Live from ZohoDay 2026, Constellation analysts hosted a lively roundtable about Zoho’s strategies, customer impact, and the software industry’s future. This conversation covered themes such as Zoho’s unification strategy, the resurgence of ERP, the launch of AppOS, and transformative customer stories. Here’s a look at the highlights.

Zoho’s Innovation and Unification Strategy

Esteban Kolsky commended Zoho’s consistent innovation and ability to deliver on promises made to customers over the past decade. He highlighted how Zoho's solution-focused approach has shifted away from the traditional focus on individual applications, adding, “Zoho introduces a way to get off the enterprise software hamster wheel.”

The analysts emphasized how Zoho’s unified approach is transforming the software landscape. Holger Mueller described Zoho’s technological accomplishment as “widest and deepest vertical horizontal integration,” while Martin Schneider highlighted the company’s ability to bring apps, data, and analytics together seamlessly. He remarked, “Having analytics on top of that, unlocking strategic value with AI. So really all about unification and simplicity to unlock strategic value.”

Mike Ni expressed admiration for Zoho’s vertical and horizontal innovation, which integrates from applications and AI down to hardware and data centers. He explained, “This is about unification…going not just from applications down to data and AI, but they’re going to the hardware. They’re going to the data center.”

AppOS emerged as a significant milestone for Zoho, blending flexibility and innovation. Liz Miller called AppOS a “big moment” and praised its ability to enable users to build applications that deliver tangible outcomes. Chirag Mehta cautioned against abstraction, stating “the proof is in the pudding” when it comes to real-world use cases and scalability.

ERP Resurgence and Market Disruption

Larry Dignan succinctly declared, “ERP’s back, kids.” This resonated with R "Ray" Wang, who elaborated on the importance of ERP in streamlining operations, managing money, and mitigating risks. “What they’re doing right now is resetting the cost structure around the world,” Wang said. He highlighted Zoho’s ability to disrupt the software market by offering cost-efficient ERP solutions built for scalability.

The analysts unanimously agreed that Zoho’s focus is on reducing software costs without compromising strategic value. Liz Miller noted Zoho’s unique ethos, describing it as an organization that purposefully avoids chasing margins at the expense of innovation: “They don’t want to make more money. They’re happy.”

Surprises from ZohoDay

CR analysts also discussed a few unexpected announcements that revealed Zoho’s ability to disrupt norms. Chirag Mehta emphasized that SaaS is alive and thriving, and highlighted the unveiling of new hardware alongside Zoho’s efforts to address technical maturity. “Platform renovation and innovation are super important. They’re addressing their technical debt well,” Holger Mueller added.

Esteban Kolsky pointed out Zoho’s shift away from focusing on app count: “They don’t care about applications anymore. They just care about solutions.” This fundamental change signals Zoho’s move towards holistic outcome-driven strategies.

Memorable Customer Stories

Zoho’s impact on businesses was brought to life through compelling customer success stories shared by the panelists.

• Ecolab: Larry Dignan recounted the story of Ecolab, a division that retained Zoho software even after a major acquisition. Despite initial doubts, Ecolab scaled the solution successfully over 12 years. Dignan explained, “Software in most acquisitions would have been tossed.”
• AcmeBrick: Martin Schneider highlighted AcmeBrick as a classic Zoho success story: “A typical Zoho customer that is resource constrained was able to achieve exponential productivity gains and sell that internally easily.”
• Newcross Healthcare: Mike Ni shared the story of how Newcross Healthcare achieved a staggering 93% reduction in app costs. He emphasized the organization’s ability to simplify processes, reduce manpower requirements, and eliminate inefficiencies. Liz Miller summarized this type of customer transformation succinctly: “Paid for the next piece of transformation with the savings from the first.”

• Swiggy: Ni also discussed how Swiggy can transform its data pipeline, reducing operational inefficiencies and enabling proactive decision-making. He described this as simplification at scale: “They brought down the data pipeline execution from 50 people to 15.”

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Predictions for Zoho’s Future

The panelists shared bold predictions for how Zoho will evolve over the next few years:

• R "Ray Wang" envisioned Zoho disrupting the entire software industry due to its focus on cost efficiency and unified platforms.
• Martin Schneider foresaw Zoho insulating itself with vertical solutions powered by small language models, positioning it to thrive as AI subsidies diminish.
• Larry Dignan predicted that Zoho would move upstream through integrator partnerships that expand its reach.
• Holger Mueller emphasized Zoho’s continued investment in AI tools and predicted significant developments from their studios and data platforms.
• Esteban Kolsky humorously proposed that Zoho's next move would be announcing, “Now that we fixed the enterprise software market, what’s next?”

Liz Miller summed it all up with this reflection: “Watch for Zoho to prove everyone wrong. They always put people before profit, fostering a culture of innovation capable of disrupting and reshaping the software market.”

Final Thoughts

ZohoDay 2026 provided a window into the future of enterprise software, showcasing Zoho’s ability to innovate, unify, and drive transformational outcomes for customers across industries. From redefining ERP to launching powerful platforms like AppOS and Zoho, Zoho is proving that a customer-first approach combined with bold technological strides can revolutionize how software is built, used, and scaled.

Constellation analysts acknowledge and applaud Zoho’s achievements over the past 30 years. Zoho continues to pave the way for a more cost-efficient, unified, and innovative technology landscape.