Anthropic targets Microsoft with new Claude-powered enterprise tools

Anthropic is taking aim at Microsoft’s dominance in enterprise AI with the launch of Cowork and Plugins for the Enterprise, a suite of tools that embeds its AI model Claude directly into applications like Excel, PowerPoint, Slack, Gmail, and Google Drive.

Rather than pasting the output of a chatbot, Claude now runs inside these applications, streamlining the way users work.

However, Microsoft has already integrated its 365 Copilot across its Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and Teams apps alongside its Copilot Studio for custom AI agents.

Anthropic's recent move can compete with this entire system of its rivals, including OpenAI's Frontier, Google's Gemini and Amazon's Quick Suite.

Anthropic’s recent tool features customisable plugins for use in finance, HR, design, marketing, operations, and data analysis. Every plugin is pre-configured with skills, connectors, and commands relevant to the specific task.

Interestingly, the connectors for Google Drive, Gmail, and DocuSign enable Claude to interact with live enterprise data with very tight administrative oversight.

How to use Anthropic Cowork plugins?

To use a plugin, users open the Claude Desktop application and select the “Cowork” tab. After that, they open “Custom Customise". From there, users can browse through available plugins, install them, or upload custom plugin files developed in-house or shared among colleagues. The plugin files are stored locally to offer maximum freedom without forcing organisations to commit to one platform or another.