The U.S.-based AI firm last Friday launched plug-ins for its Claude Cowork agent, enabling the automation of tasks in legal services, sales, marketing, and data analysis, News.Az reports, citing Reuters.
The move triggered a selloff in U.S. and European data analytics and software stocks and deepened concerns within India’s $283 billion IT industry, which relies heavily on labour-intensive business models and large teams deployed for client projects.
RECOMMENDED STORIES
India’s IT sub-index was on course for its worst session since March 2020, with all 10 constituents trading lower. Infosys led the losses, dropping 7.3%.
Other major firms also declined, with TCS down 5.8%, Wipro falling 3.9%, and HCLTech losing 5.1%.
“As Indian enterprises integrate Claude into critical coding workflows, reliance on large vendor teams could decrease, putting pressure on billable hours and margins,” said Ambrish Shah, an analyst at Systematix Group.
He added that Anthropic’s advanced AI systems also pose a threat to the entry-level talent pipeline at Indian IT firms by replacing routine software development and testing tasks.
