We just wrapped up an incredible experience at Zoholics 2024 at Bengaluru, and what an event it was! The energy, innovation, and excitement around Artificial Intelligence (AI) was palpable throughout the conference. The event brought together Zoho users, partners, developers, and thought leaders from across the globe to discuss the future of business software and how AI is set to transform the industry.
If you couldn’t attend, don’t worry—we’ve got you covered. Here are the key takeaways from Zoholics 2024 that will help shape the future of business operations.
1. AI Everywhere: The Future is Here
The most significant trend at Zoholics 2024 was the focus on AI across the Zoho ecosystem. Whether it’s through automation, predictive analysis, or smart workflows, Zoho is infusing AI into every aspect of its product suite. One of the standout AI enhancements is Zia, Zoho’s intelligent assistant. New features powered by Zia include:
- Voice Commands: Zia now allows users to search across Zoho apps with simple voice commands, making workflows faster and more intuitive.
- AI-Driven Task Management: Automatically categorize and prioritize tasks based on AI algorithms that learn from your actions.
- Smart Summarization: Automatically generates summaries of customer interactions, documents, or meetings, helping teams stay on top of important information.
- Automatic Tagging: AI-driven tagging and categorization for better organization within Zoho CRM and Zoho Desk.
2. Exciting New Features Across Zoho Apps
Zoholics 2024 introduced several exciting updates across the Zoho suite, enhancing the user experience and productivity. Key updates include:
- Zoho CRM: New customization options and better AI integration to streamline sales processes and provide deeper insights.
- Zoho Desk: The introduction of tools aimed at delivering personalized customer support experiences, including better ticket routing and new response templates.
- Zoho Books: Improved automation features to help finance teams manage invoicing, payments, and reconciliation more efficiently.
These updates are aimed at making workflows more seamless and reducing manual effort, freeing teams to focus on strategic work.
3. The Zoho One Ecosystem: More Power, More Collaboration
Zoho One continues to evolve as a unified platform for businesses, with enhanced cross-app workflows, automation, and collaboration features. One of the standout developments is improved integration between Zoho applications, allowing for seamless interaction across departments. From sales and finance to customer service and marketing, Zoho One is designed to help teams work together more efficiently.
Zoho One’s new automation capabilities mean businesses can now:
- Automate cross-functional processes without manual intervention.
- Create advanced workflows across departments, integrating sales, marketing, and customer support tools.
- Collaborate effortlessly with improved team collaboration features like task assignments, shared dashboards, and team notifications.
4. Customer Experience Gets a Boost
Delivering exceptional customer experiences has always been at the core of Zoho’s mission, and the latest updates reflect this commitment. New enhancements to Zoho Desk, Zoho Campaigns, and Zoho SalesIQ offer businesses the ability to personalize the customer journey like never before:
- Zoho Desk: It now includes better automation for customer queries and tickets and enhanced reporting capabilities to track customer satisfaction.
- Zoho Campaigns: More personalization options for email marketing, with the ability to target customers based on behavior, preferences, and engagement history.
- Zoho SalesIQ: New tools for real-time customer engagement, allowing businesses to offer timely support via live chat, AI-driven chatbots, and integrated email follow-ups.
5. Developer Tools: More Customization, More Flexibility
Developers have a lot to look forward to with Zoho Creator and expanded APIs, which were highlighted at the event. Zoho’s low-code and no-code tools continue to grow, offering greater customization options and more flexibility for businesses looking to create unique, tailored solutions:
- Zoho Creator: Expanded developer tools for building powerful, custom applications with ease. Users now have access to better APIs for advanced integrations, allowing them to connect Zoho with other third-party apps.
- Whiteboard Enhancements: For those focused on brainstorming and innovation, Zoho’s Whiteboard tool now features dynamic brainstorming capabilities, allowing for more interactive collaboration sessions.
6. Security Takes Center Stage
In today’s digital landscape, security is paramount. Zoholics 2024 didn’t disappoint in this area, with key upgrades in security features across several Zoho products, including:
- Ulaa: Zoho’s privacy-focused web browser, built for secure browsing and productivity.
- Zoho Directory: Expanded identity management and single sign-on (SSO) solutions for enterprise-level security.
- OneAuth: Enhanced multi-factor authentication (MFA) options, ensuring your data is always secure.
- Zoho Vault: A streamlined password management tool with new features to store, share, and protect credentials securely.
These improvements underscore Zoho’s commitment to providing robust security tools that protect businesses from evolving cyber threats.
7. Developer Platform Expansion: Zoho Catalyst
One of the standout announcements was the major upgrade to Zoho Catalyst, the company’s pro-code platform. Catalyst now includes:
- Event Routing with Signals: A powerful tool for managing event-driven workflows.
- NoSQL Database: Enabling faster data handling and better scalability for developers.
- Slate: A new feature that allows developers to build custom interfaces within the Zoho ecosystem.
- CI/CD Pipeline: Developers can now automate deployment workflows, making it easier to rollout updates and manage version control.
This expansion of Zoho Catalyst reinforces Zoho’s focus on giving developers the tools they need to build advanced, custom solutions on the platform.
8. New Product Launches at Zoholics 2024
Zoholics 2024 wasn’t just about enhancements to existing products—Zoho introduced several new products that are set to revolutionize business operations:
- Vikrra: A unified seller app for the ONDC network, enabling businesses to sell across India’s top consumer apps.
- Zoho Payments: A versatile payment platform that supports a wide range of payment methods, including UPI.
- Zoho IoT: A low-code IoT platform designed to help businesses harness the power of connected devices.
- Zoho Tables: A work management application that combines the simplicity of a spreadsheet with the functionality of a database, making team collaboration more efficient.
- Zoho Apptics: An analytics platform specifically designed for SaaS products and mobile applications, offering deep insights into user behavior and performance.
- Zoho RPA: Robotic Process Automation software aimed at automating high-volume, repetitive tasks.
Additionally, Zoho announced several new products in beta, including Zoho Mail 360, an email API platform, and Zoho eProtect, a cloud-based email security and archiving solution. These innovations highlight Zoho’s commitment to staying ahead of the curve, and continually developing new tools that address emerging business challenges.
9. Keynote Highlights
The keynotes at Zoholics 2024 were not only insightful but also inspiring. Here are a few highlights:
- Sridhar Vembu, Zoho’s co-founder, delivered a thought-provoking keynote on AI and its role in shaping the future of businesses, along with his vision for a Digital India.
- Rajendran Dandapani captivated the audience with his engaging keynote on Zoho’s latest developments, delivered in his signature style that combines humor, insights, and deep knowledge of Zoho products.
A Blend of Sustainability, Culture, and Heritage
Beyond the technological advancements, Zoholics 2024 stood out for its commitment to sustainability, culture, and heritage. The Zoho team went above and beyond to ensure that the event reflected Zoho’s values, blending cutting-edge technology with respect for tradition. From eco-friendly practices to showcasing local culture, Zoholics 2024 was as much about community and responsibility as it was about business innovation.
Conclusion: Zoholics 2024 Sets the Stage for the Future
Zoholics 2024 was a whirlwind of innovation, learning, and collaboration. With new AI features, expanded developer tools, and exciting product launches, the future of Zoho and its ecosystem looks incredibly promising. We’re excited to see how these advancements will shape the future of business operations and empower companies to achieve more.
If you missed Zoholics this year, be sure to catch up on the latest updates by visiting the official Zoho site or reaching out to us for more insights into how these new tools and features can benefit your business.