Since the launch of Claude Cowork on January 16, 2026, Anthropic has sent shockwaves through global technology markets, with India feeling the tremors most acutely. Claude Cowork is Anthropic’s enterprise-focussed, agentic AI workspace, capable of planning, executing and automating multi-step tasks directly on a user’s computer.
Its impact intensified on January 30, when Anthropic rolled out 11 powerful automation plug-ins that allow Claude to autonomously execute workflows previously handled by large offshore teams or major enterprise SaaS platforms such as Salesforce and ServiceNow.
The alarm became visible on February 3 and 4, when the Nifty IT index recorded its steepest fall since the Covid-19 era crash. Major Indian IT stocks plunged sharply: Infosys dropped about 8 percent, TCS roughly 7 percent, Wipro around 5 percent, HCLTech fell between 4 and 6 percent, LTIMindtree about 6 percent, and Coforge 7 to 8 percent. In a single day, nearly Rs 2 lakh crore in market value evaporated as investors reacted to Anthropic’s new AI capabilities.
Claude Cowork’s introduction—particularly the release of its legal automation plug-in—marked a shift in how seriously global markets began to treat AI as a genuine substitute for both software platforms and human labour. The plug-in, which can rapidly process high volume documentation such as contracts, non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) and compliance workflows, sparked concern across legal tech, SaaS and IT services industries, as the tool compresses work that traditionally needed large, specialised teams into minutes of AI-driven output.
Also Read: IT stocks crash over 7% as AI competition fears grip global markets
At the World Economic Forum, Anthropic’s Chief Executive Dario Amodei warned that AI is six to 12 months away from doing everything software engineers do, a prediction that now feels uncomfortably prescient. India’s IT services industry, worth $250 billion, relies heavily on labour-intensive outsourcing, including software maintenance, testing, data processing, contract analysis, compliance monitoring, customer support and business process outsourcing, and felt the threat immediately.
Multiple reports indicate that Cowork automates precisely the categories of work traditionally offshored to India, raising fears that AI may replace—rather than supplement—large delivery teams. Additionally, analysts warn that systems like Cowork could shift billing models from effort-based to outcome-based, compressing margins and reducing demand for classic outsourcing. What’s more, Claude’s ability to directly interface with enterprise systems—bypassing platforms that Indian IT companies typically customise, integrate or maintain—raises concerns that entire layers of the IT services value chain could be automated away.
Investment bank Jefferies described the moment as a “SaaSpocalypse”, reflecting concerns that AI agents may undercut the traditional value of outsourced IT and SaaS platforms. Globally, the episode is being viewed as a sign of how rapidly AI is transitioning from an assistive tool to a potential substitute for conventional software development and IT services models.
First Published: Feb 05, 2026, 15:42
Subscribe Now