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From facilitating major initiatives like Digital India to empowering women through flexible work policies, Zoom’s AI-first innovations and robust security features play a pivotal role in shaping a digitally inclusive governance ecosystem. With impactful collaborations across central and state governments, Zoom continues to strengthen its commitment to fostering a developed and digitally empowered India.

Rohit Kumar, Head of Government Relations, India at Zoom, in an exclusive interaction with Abhineet Kumar of Elets News Network shares insights into how Zoom supports India’s digital transformation journey by enabling secure and seamless collaboration for government operations. 

As India accelerates its digital transformation journey, how does Zoom position itself as an essential platform for government operations? Could you share examples of impactful collaborations between Zoom and various government agencies?

Zoom is committed to supporting the Indian government’s initiatives such as Digital India1, Smart Cities2, and Skill India3 by offering a robust AI-first work platform that drives digital transformation. By empowering government agencies and citizens to collaborate effectively, Zoom works with both central and state governments to enhance their internal operations and public engagement. Some examples of impactful collaborations between Zoom and various government agencies are provided below:

• At the central government level, Zoom has facilitated important events and initiatives, underscoring its critical role in supporting India’s digital governance efforts. A notable example is the COWIN Conclave 20214, chaired by Shri Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India, where the event was held entirely on Zoom.
• Of the 25 High Courts in India, 10 High Courts use Zoom for virtual hearings, facilitating access to judicial processes.
• Zoom collaborated with the Goa Police to equip their personnel with integrated cameras for managing law-and-order situations, notably during New Year’s Eve celebrations.
• Zoom supported the G20 Leaders’ Summit5, held in India in November 2023. The summit brought together leaders from G20 nations, the African Union, nine guest countries, and 11 international organizations, showcasing Zoom’s capability to enable secure and seamless government engagements.
• Project ECHO6, a knowledge-sharing network, links expert medical teams with primary care clinicians in underserved areas. Within five years of adopting Zoom, ECHO expanded to over 220 hubs worldwide, including more than 135 domestic hubs in India. The platform enables local clinicians to connect with specialists to manage complex patient cases.
• Zoom supported the Peer Tutor Initiative in collaboration with CoMMUTINY, assisting 4,900 adolescent girls across Indore (Madhya Pradesh) and Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) in improving school enrollment rates, building foundational numeracy and literacy skills, and raising awareness about mental and social well-being.

The term ‘Viksit Bharat’ represents India’s aspirations for a developed nation. How is Zoom contributing to this vision, and what role does seamless communication play in shaping a digitally empowered governance ecosystem?

‘Viksit Bharat,’ India’s aspiration to emerge as a developed nation, is driven by inclusive growth, innovation, and empowerment. Central to achieving this vision is fostering collaboration across sectors to address key challenges, such as bridging the gender gap in workforce participation and enhancing opportunities for women. Despite advancements, women in India continue to face hurdles in accessing education, healthcare, and economic opportunities, particularly in rural and underserved areas.

Seamless collaboration platforms like Zoom can play a transformative role in overcoming these barriers, enabling broader participation, fostering equitable access to resources, and empowering women to become active contributors to India’s growth story.

Our platform supports both central and state government initiatives by empowering citizens with the right information. For instance, the Ministry of Panchayati Raj in Uttar Pradesh conducts capacity-building efforts for over 60,000 panchayats across the state, ensuring citizens receive accurate information on the implementation of schemes. Under the Atal Innovation Mission, Zoom supported one of the largest virtual tinkering activities, bringing together 10,000 schools and more than 150,000 students in a mega innovation camp.

Additionally, Zoom has been instrumental in campaigns across critical areas, including foundational learning, mental and adolescent health, women empowerment, and access to markets in rural areas—focusing on the key pillars of Viksit Bharat: women and children.

Zoom has been supporting women farmers in Tamil Nadu through women’s collectives, providing them access to sales and supply chains for their produce. Additionally, it has been enabling improved foundational learning and numeracy skills through the Peer Tutor Initiative in Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. Zoom also supports mental health through iCall, a free email- and telephone-based counselling service, and promotes awareness through campaigns on women’s health, such as the “Know Your Body, Know Your Rights” campaign.

Zoom’s support for these campaigns has already impacted over 35,000 adolescents, youth leaders, and community stakeholders. For example, the Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE) training series across schools and colleges in India demonstrates how Zoom empowers youth and drives social change.

Zoom’s AI-first innovations also address India’s cultural and linguistic diversity. Independent evaluations by TestDevLab7 revealed that Zoom achieved 99.05% accuracy in LLM Assistant evaluations, delivering superior transcription accuracy, faster in-meeting question response times, and more stable conversational AI capabilities compared to competitors. These advancements are instrumental in overcoming language and communication barriers, making governance and collaboration more accessible to diverse communities across the country.

With data security and privacy being top concerns for government entities, what specific security features does Zoom offer to ensure safe and reliable communication for critical operations? How do these features align with government regulations in India?

Zoom keeps privacy and security at the forefront for all end users. As regulations evolve, Zoom continues to address the changing regulatory landscape by updating its standards and practices to keep data secure and develop ethical and responsible AI. Security needs to be integrated from the outset of any program, process, or product. This is critical for organisations across industries, but it is especially vital for the public sector, as it impacts national well-being.

Zoom helps businesses stay connected while recognizing the immense responsibility to ensure the safety, privacy, and security of all users. Zoom is committed to complying with applicable regulations in all regions where it operates.

Over the past three years, Zoom has made several platform enhancements and introduced new features to improve the privacy, security, and safety of its platform. These efforts include releasing hundreds of updates. Post-quantum end-to-end encryption (E2EE) is now globally available for Zoom Meetings and Zoom Phone as part of Zoom Workplace. This makes Zoom the first UCaaS company to offer a post-quantum E2EE solution for video conferencing. Zoom’s focus remains on designing all products, including AI/ML features, to be both safe and effective.

In October 2024, Zoom announced the launch of its industry-leading Zoom Phone product in India, beginning with the availability of Zoom Phone service with native Indian phone numbers in the Maharashtra Telecom Circle (Pune). Zoom’s cloud PBX service complies with India’s Unified Telecom License, which mandates building dedicated local interconnection infrastructure as per regulatory requirements. This highlights Zoom’s commitment to providing trusted services tailored to customer needs.

Zoom has collaborated on initiatives like capacity building for Chief Information Security Officers (CISOs) and partnered with organizations such as CyberPeace Foundation. Can you elaborate on these projects and their impact on strengthening India’s digital governance?

Zoom has partnered with the CyberPeace Foundation, a global nonprofit and think tank of cyber and policy experts. Through this collaboration, Zoom supported the CyberPeace Dialogue with the C20 Working Group on Technology, Security & Transparency. This initiative brought together key stakeholders to discuss and promote responsible technology use to empower trust and safety in the digital age.

The dialogue focused on trust and safety in cyberspace and examined several aspects of technology’s societal impact, including digital inclusion, privacy, data protection, online safety, and bridging the digital divide. It provided insights into strategies and initiatives to enhance digital inclusion and emphasised collaboration among multilateral organizations, governments, law enforcement agencies, and technology companies. The dialogue also underscored the role of cyber diplomacy in shaping policies and tools for a safer online environment.

Additionally, Zoom supported two major projects with the CyberPeace Foundation. The E-Raksha initiative (2023-24) engaged over 200,000 participants, equipping individuals with knowledge of online safety and cybersecurity through Cyber Camps organized jointly by CyberPeace and NCERT. The initiative also fostered innovative solutions in cybersecurity through competitions, engaging school and college students with immersive learning experiences to inspire future cybersecurity leaders.

Zoom also continues to support knowledge-sharing sessions for CISOs under the National e-Governance Division (NeGD), MEITY. These sessions address key areas like unified communications, cloud deployment, cloud security, and the use of SaaS within the government. They highlight how the government can securely leverage cloud technology to advance its digital initiatives. These efforts demonstrate Zoom’s commitment to supporting India’s Digital India journey by fostering secure digital governance and promoting innovation in cybersecurity.

With technology and governance continuously evolving, what new features or innovations can we expect from Zoom to support government modernisation efforts in India?

One key area of focus is the continued development of Zoom as an AI-first work platform for seamless human connection. This enables government agencies and businesses to enhance collaboration, facilitating flexible and effective workflows for stakeholders.

For instance, Zoom AI Companion, the company’s generative AI assistant, helps employees collaborate better, improve skills, and save time, with support for over 30 languages, including Hindi, Bengali, Telugu, and Tamil. This is particularly beneficial for government employees, given India’s linguistic diversity. The omnichannel Zoom Contact Center offers AI-first features like sentiment analysis and conversation summaries, enabling government agencies to deliver personalized services to citizens.

Zoom Phone, with its scalable and secure communication features, helps government agencies improve internal communication and deliver better public services. Meanwhile, Workvivo by Zoom, an employee experience platform, fosters community spaces to connect employees with shared interests and keep them informed about key announcements. This enhances workforce engagement, satisfaction, and retention.

Zoom has engaged with institutions like LEAD at Krea University. How do these academic collaborations inform your strategies and advance conversations around work, governance, and digital inclusion in India?

In alignment with the Honorable Prime Minister’s vision for women empowerment, Zoom collaborated with LEAD at Krea University and IWWAGE in March 2023 to release the ‘Hybrid Models and Women’s Work in India’ report. This study highlights how flexible work can improve recruitment and retention by addressing barriers such as safety concerns, mobility issues, and caregiving responsibilities.

Flexible work policies are pivotal in widening employment opportunities and empowering women to shape their career paths. This aligns with the Prime Minister’s emphasis on improving women’s labour force participation.

Zoom was also part of the Future of Work, Skills, and Mobility Task Force at Business 20 (B20), an engagement group under G20. The task force advocated for promoting workplace inclusivity and flexibility to advance equality. Zoom is also working with NITI Aayog to review flexible work models across India and internationally, exploring policy adaptations for India’s unique labour force ecosystem.

In May 2023, Zoom hosted a roundtable with government, academia, think tanks, and multilateral institutions to review inclusivity-focused policies and implementation efforts for the future of work. Building on these initiatives, Zoom is developing pilot projects to demonstrate how linking flexible work with the care economy can boost women’s workforce participation. For example, initiatives like high-quality creche centres linked to co-working spaces aim to empower more women to join the workforce.

Under the ‘Her Future’ grant program launched on International Girl’s Day in October 2024, Zoom Cares partnered with Bangalore-based Head Held High to empower women aged 15-35 in Raichur, Karnataka. This program focuses on job-ready skilling, work placement, and entrepreneurship, uplifting women in underdeveloped districts as part of the Government of India’s efforts to enhance living standards.

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