Anthropic hires former Microsoft India MD to lead Bengaluru expansion
Key Points
- Anthropic appoints Irina Ghose, former Microsoft India MD, to lead its India operations.
- The hire supports Anthropic's plan to open an office in Bengaluru.
- India is a strategically important market for Anthropic, with rapid growth in Claude usage.
- Claude app downloads rose 48% year over year, and consumer spending increased dramatically.
- Competitors like OpenAI are also expanding in India, offering low‑cost plans and new offices.
- Telecom giants such as Reliance and Bharti Airtel are becoming key AI distribution partners.
- Anthropic is hiring additional sales and partnership staff to strengthen its go‑to‑market effort.
- The move aligns with upcoming AI-focused events and government initiatives in India.
Anthropic has appointed Irina Ghose, a former Microsoft India managing director, to head its India operations as the AI startup prepares to open an office in Bengaluru. The move highlights India's growing importance as a market for generative AI, with Anthropic seeking to deepen enterprise and developer adoption of its Claude model. Ghose brings more than two decades of big‑tech experience and local relationships, positioning Anthropic to compete with rivals such as OpenAI, which is also expanding its presence in the country. The hiring underscores Anthropic's push to translate strong user growth in India into sustainable revenue.
Anthropic's Strategic Move in India
Anthropic, the U.S. generative‑AI startup behind the Claude model, announced a major leadership addition as it prepares to launch a Bengaluru office. The company sees India as a key growth market, ranking it among its most strategically important regions. Usage of Claude in India has risen sharply, with the app seeing a substantial increase in downloads and consumer spending compared with the previous year.
Leadership Appointment
Irina Ghose, who spent 24 years at Microsoft and most recently served as the managing director for Microsoft India, has been named to lead Anthropic's India business. In a LinkedIn post, Ghose said she will focus on Indian enterprises, developers and startups adopting Claude for mission‑critical use cases, emphasizing the potential of AI in local languages as a force multiplier across sectors such as education and healthcare.
Market Context
India offers a massive internet audience, with more than a billion subscribers and hundreds of millions of smartphone users. While the scale is impressive, converting that reach into meaningful revenue has proved challenging for AI firms, prompting aggressive pricing and promotional strategies. Anthropic’s Claude app recorded a 48% increase in downloads year over year, reaching roughly 767,000 installs in September, and consumer spending surged 572% to $195,000 for the month.
Competitive Landscape
Anthropic is not alone in courting the Indian market. OpenAI has announced plans to open an office in New Delhi and has introduced low‑cost and free‑for‑a‑year plans to attract Indian users. Telecom giants are also becoming critical distribution partners: Reliance Industries struck a deal with Google to offer Gemini AI Pro for free to Jio subscribers, while Bharti Airtel partnered with Perplexity to bundle premium AI access. These moves illustrate how Indian telecom providers are shaping the distribution of consumer AI services.
Future Outlook
The appointment of Ghose adds senior local leadership just ahead of India’s AI Impact Summit, where government officials, global CEOs and AI startups will discuss the next phase of AI deployment. Anthropic is also building out its India team, posting job listings for startup and enterprise account executives and a partner sales manager. The company aims to turn surging usage into durable business by navigating pricing pressure, distribution partnerships and enterprise adoption.
Overall, Anthropic’s hiring signals a commitment to deepen its presence in a market that is rapidly becoming a contested arena in the global race to commercialize generative AI.