Anthropic keeps doubling down as anthropic launches new enterprise offerings
Anthropic on Tuesday unveiled a host of new enterprise capabilities for its Claude AI, anthropic said, coming less than a month after the company launched plugins for the platform and sending software stocks into a tailspin. The package includes department-specific plugins, tools to build customized plugins, and integrations with existing software.
Anthropic enterprise push explained
Anthropic (ANTH. PVT) presented plugins designed for specific departments within an organization, such as human resources and investment banking. customers will be able to create customized plugins tailored to specific company tasks and connect Claude to existing software, including Google's Drive and Gmail (GOOG, GOOGL), DocuSign (DOCU), and LegalZoom (LZ).
New plugins and integrations
Matt Piccolella, who works on products at Anthropic, described the plugin strategy as a means of driving enterprise AI adoption by building "dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of these plugins, " calling them almost like "mini apps. " He said enterprises will be able to build hundreds of these plugins and distribute them to employees for department-specific workflows and custom company tasks. Piccolella also said Anthropic is offering a marketplace for enterprises to host their own plugins so employees and teams can find the right plugins for their needs.
Market reaction and stock swings
The announcements have put enormous pressure on shares of enterprise software developers. ServiceNow (NOW) stock is off more than 23% since Anthropic initially announced Claude Cowork on Jan. 30. Salesforce (CRM) is down 22%, Snowflake (SNOW) has dropped 20%, Intuit (INTU) has fallen 33%, and Thomson (TRI) has declined 31%.
Claude Code Security and cybersecurity
On Feb. 20, Anthropic announced Claude Code Security, which it said "scans codebases for security vulnerabilities and suggests targeted software patches for human review. " The news sent cybersecurity stocks lower, with CrowdStrike (CRWD) and Zscaler (ZS) falling 7. 2% and 7. 1%, respectively, as of Monday's close, while Palo Alto Networks (PANW) dropped 2. 6%.
Analysts temper disruption fears
Anthropic's deeper push into the enterprise space has amplified fears on Wall Street that its products could eventually displace existing software companies. The thinking is that Anthropic, OpenAI (OPAI. PVT), and other AI companies will either build their own software to rival offerings from established software firms or allow businesses to easily develop custom in-house software—either scenario could spell trouble for software companies. OpenAI launched its Frontier platform earlier this month, enabling users to build and launch AI agents that work with a company's existing software services.
Analysts point out that open-source software to build custom enterprise offerings has been available for decades, yet the market for third-party software has expanded. They also cast doubt on AI companies' ability to steal market share from dedicated enterprise software companies that are purpose-built for certain tasks.
Anthropic said the new enterprise capabilities, combined with plugin customization and a marketplace, are aimed at accelerating adoption inside companies and enabling tailored workflows.
