Zoho launches secure browser & AI-powered CRM for businesses

Zoho has announced the release of Ulaa Enterprise, a privacy-focused browser designed for businesses, and the general availability of CRM for Everyone with enhanced artificial intelligence capabilities.

Ulaa Enterprise is tailored to address the security and management requirements of modern enterprises. It aims to provide enhanced protection and user-friendly controls for organisations using cloud software.

The company stated that the adoption of cloud-based applications has made browsers the primary point of vulnerability in organisational IT environments. Ulaa Enterprise aims to tackle this risk by providing security at the browser level, reducing the need for third-party tools and complex virtual environments.

Chandrashekar LSP, Managing Director at Zoho Canada, said, "The shift to cloud-based software has made the browser the largest attack surface inside an organisation, yet no software vendor has been able to produce a secure browser that strikes the correct balance between depth of policy controls and straightforward usability. Ulaa Enterprise addresses the need for a proactive and comprehensive security solution for businesses to reduce their attack surface, keep users secure, and stay in control of their security."

Ulaa Enterprise features centralised policy management, enabling administrators to set access controls, restrict downloads, manage extensions, and govern user behaviour through policies that can be applied across multiple users and groups. The browser also enforces data loss prevention (DLP) directly at the browser layer, blocking unauthorised transfers of sensitive information through measures such as upload, download, copy-paste, and screen capture restrictions.

IT departments are also provided with visibility into security risks through detailed audit logs and monitoring capabilities, allowing precise enforcement of security policies. The company highlighted that these measures are intended to offer better control without relying heavily on additional tools or reactive measures.

Thomas Wieberneit, Founder and Principal Analyst at AheadCRM, commented, "As a Ulaa user, I highly appreciate its responsiveness, compatibility, and built-in security features. With the release of Ulaa Enterprise as the front-end to business applications, Zoho now has a security stack that nearly no other tech vendor can compete with. Zoho's relentless commitment to security and privacy is part of its DNA and is unique in the industry."

Ulaa Enterprise integrates with Zoho's AI engine Zia, which provides ZeroPhish—a phishing detection tool that analyses URLs and page behaviour in real time—and smart web categorisation to block unsafe content. Zia can also help users organise browser tabs based on their behaviour to boost productivity.

The browser is designed to be accessible to IT professionals and general employees. Its low IT overhead means it does not require complex virtualisation, and policy changes are designed to be deployed instantly without impacting end-user performance. Ulaa Enterprise offers cross-platform support, including Android and iOS mobile device compatibility.

In addition to security features, Ulaa Enterprise provides ethical and targeted monitoring that avoids invasive surveillance practices. It seeks to maintain user trust while enforcing organisational policies. The browser is based on Chromium, combining familiarity for users with built-in protective functions.

According to the company, Ulaa's growth has accelerated considerably, with download numbers and active user counts more than doubling since 2023. Ulaa Enterprise pricing starts at USD $1 per device per month or USD $10 per device per year.

Alongside the browser release, Zoho announced the general availability of CRM for Everyone, expanding the reach of its customer relationship management platform by integrating deep AI and workflow orchestration functionalities powered by Zia.

Chandrashekar LSP said, "Multiple people in an organisation need access to customer information, yet historically, CRMs have been relegated to only sales teams. As we democratise CRM with the launch of CRM for Everyone, we also need to build in capabilities that make it easy for anyone to build and extend CRM with simple prompts, without having to be an expert in the system. This is where Zia's advanced capabilities come in. Anyone can create capabilities, workflows, or reports in CRM with a simple prompt. They can also make their CRM look the way they want with Zia's image to design capabilities."

Keith Dawson, Director of Research and Customer Experience at ISG Software Research, remarked, "A lot of enterprises look at their CX progress and wonder why they have trouble coordinating multiple processes across isolated departments. The promise of generative AI was that it would be able to prune away many of the old barriers to progress. Happily, AI capabilities like Zoho's are delivering on that promise."

CRM for Everyone includes features such as agentic report creation with Ask Zia, custom module creation using natural language prompts, automated workflow setup, and image-to-canvas design functions for CRM customisation.

The platform introduces Connected Records and Connected Workflows, designed to link disparate team modules and automate coordination across departments such as sales, marketing, onboarding, finance and legal. These new capabilities ensure that all involved teams have timely access to relevant customer information, supporting more consistent customer interactions throughout the business lifecycle.

AI features within CRM for Everyone are included in the standard licence cost, with Team user licences starting at CDN $14 per user per month for all paid editions.

Zoho has reiterated its commitment to customer privacy, stating that its AI models are not trained on consumer data and do not retain customer information. The company does not operate an ad-revenue model and processes customer data at its data centres to support privacy and security requirements.