India, Sept. 25 -- Zoho expanded beyond its horizontal business software suite, entering seven industry-specific markets while launching Zia Chat, a conversational AI interface that connects information and workflows across Zoho applications and external systems through Model Context Protocol (MCP) integrations. The company is targeting retail, automotive, banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI), healthcare, education, real estate, and restaurants with its new vertical offerings.

The move brings industry-specific workflows, business rules, and regulatory requirements into Zoho's broader software ecosystem, while giving Zia access to more contextual business information. In an interview with Dataquest, Anand Nergunam, Global Vice...