Zoho's Sridhar Vembu asks the question every techie fears: Will JavaScript, C, HTML/CSS survive AI?

The world of software development has changed dramatically over the past few decades, but some of its most fundamental building blocks remain stubbornly outdated. As tech continues to evolve at breakneck speed, one big question looms: Are we simply patching old systems instead of reimagining them for the future? In an era where AI is reshaping everything from healthcare to art, Zoho founder Sridhar Vembu is urging developers and innovators to pause and reflect on where software is really headed, especially over the next 100 years.

In a thought-provoking post on X (formerly Twitter), Vembu shared a series of questions that he uses to challenge himself when working on long-term software problems. He wondered whether we’ll still be relying on core technologies like the C programming language, which is considered powerful but inherently unsafe, and SQL, which, despite being widespread, he calls a poor interface for true relational algebra. He also pointed out the overly complex nature of modern web development, where just building a browser interface often involves juggling three to five different languages.

Vembu believes AI won’t render these concerns irrelevant — in fact, it might do the opposite. According to him, artificial intelligence could actually help accelerate the shift away from these legacy systems, pushing the industry to reimagine the very foundations of computing. His questions aren’t just philosophical, they serve as a rallying cry for the tech community to think boldly, beyond incremental updates, and start building for a more robust and secure digital future.

Some questions I ask to motivate myself to work on (very) long term software problems.

In 100 years:

1. Would we still rely on operating systems written in inherently unsafe C?

2. Would we still rely on SQL, which is a poor interface to the mathematically sound and rigorous…

— Sridhar Vembu (@svembu) May 27, 2025

Netizens react
The discussion sparked by Sridhar Vembu’s post led to a wave of thoughtful responses online. Some users raised concerns about whether humans will still be capable of fixing critical systems in the future, especially if AI becomes inaccessible or breaks down. Others imagined a future where today’s interfaces dissolve into seamless, immersive experiences, and data is clearly split between user-owned and global. Many agreed that much of the current tech stack persists due to inertia rather than optimal design, and with accelerating change, the next 100 years could bring either a tech-driven utopia or dystopia.