Anthropic has appointed Irina Ghose, former Managing Director of Microsoft India, to lead its India business as the U.S.-based AI company prepares to open an office in Bengaluru.
The move highlights India’s growing importance as a key market for global AI companies seeking growth beyond the United States.
The appointment comes at a time when competition among AI firms in India is intensifying.
Companies are racing to capture users, enterprise customers, and long-term distribution partners in one of the world’s fastest-growing digital economies.
A Veteran Executive
Irina Ghose brings more than two decades of experience at Microsoft. She spent 24 years at the company before stepping down in December 2025.
During that time, she worked across leadership roles and built strong relationships with Indian enterprises, startups, and government institutions.
For Anthropic, this is critical. India is a relationship-driven market. Local knowledge often determines how quickly companies can move from early adoption to large-scale deployment.
Ghose’s experience gives Anthropic a strong foundation as it builds an on-the-ground presence.
India’s Rising Importance
India has already become one of Anthropic’s most strategically important markets. The country ranks as the second-largest user base for Claude, the company’s AI assistant.
Usage in India is heavily focused on professional and technical tasks, especially software development.
This pattern reflects how AI tools are being used across Indian businesses. Developers and engineers often lead adoption.
Over time, usage expands into product teams, operations, and management. As a result, India offers both scale and depth for enterprise AI adoption.
Also read: Google Launches AI Mode in India
Bengaluru Office
Anthropic’s decision to open an office in Bengaluru is a deliberate one. The city is widely seen as India’s technology capital.
It hosts major global tech firms, a dense startup ecosystem, and a large pool of engineering talent.
By establishing a local office, Anthropic can work more closely with customers and partners. It can also support developers and enterprises more effectively.
In India, local presence often plays a decisive role in building trust and accelerating adoption.
Global Competition
Anthropic is expanding into India as competition heats up. OpenAI has also increased its focus on the market and plans to open an office in New Delhi.
Other AI companies are moving aggressively as well. Recent partnerships underline how competitive the landscape has become.
Reliance Jio partnered with Google to offer Gemini AI Pro free to its subscribers. Bharti Airtel teamed up with Perplexity to bundle access to its premium AI service.
These moves show how telecom companies have become key distribution partners for AI services in India.
Also read: OpenAI Makes ChatGPT Go Free for One Year in India
Scale and Monetization
India offers an enormous reach with its more than one billion internet subscribers and over 700 million smartphone users.
Yet, this doesn’t translate into meaningful revenue, which remains a challenge. Price sensitivity is high; many users expect low-cost or free digital services.
As a result, AI companies often rely on aggressive pricing strategies like OpenAI’s ChatGPT Go, a plan priced under $5, to attract Indian users.
It later offered the plan for free for a year in the country. Anthropic faces similar pressures as it works to grow revenue while expanding its user base.
Usage and Spending Levels
Claude’s growth in India has been significant. In September, the app recorded a 48% year-over-year increase in downloads, reaching around 767,000 installs for the month. Consumer spending also rose sharply, increasing 572% to $195,000, according to data from Appfigures.
Despite this growth, revenue remains small compared with the U.S. market. In the same month, consumer spending on Claude in the U.S. reached $2.5 million.
The contrast highlights both the opportunity and the challenge Anthropic faces in India.
Government And Industry Leaders
Anthropic has increased its engagement with India at the highest levels. Chief executive Dario Amodei visited the country in October.
During the visit, he met with senior corporate leaders and lawmakers, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
These discussions focused on Anthropic’s expansion plans and the use of its AI tools. They also reflected on India’s increasing role in global conversations around AI policy and adoption.
Anthropic also explored a potential partnership with Reliance Industries to expand access to Claude. But that partnership did not move forward.
Reliance later announced its deal with Google instead. Even so, Anthropic’s outreach showed its intent to work closely with major Indian companies.
Enterprise AI And Local Languages
In a LinkedIn post announcing her new role, Ghose said her focus would be on working with Indian enterprises, developers, and startups using Claude for mission-critical tasks.
She pointed to growing demand for what she described as high-trust, enterprise-grade AI.
She also emphasized the importance of AI tailored to local languages. According to Ghose, this could significantly increase adoption across sectors such as education and healthcare.
This focus could aid Anthropic’s ambition to move beyond early adopters and into large institutions and the public sector.
India’s AI Ecosystem
India has a deep pool of software talent and a rapidly growing base of AI users. However, the country has produced relatively few startups building large foundation models.
The cost of training such models remains extremely high. Investors in India tend to back application-layer companies rather than fund large-scale model development.
This creates space for global AI firms like Anthropic to play a central role in the market.
The AI Impact Summit
Ghose’s appointment comes ahead of India’s AI Impact Summit 2026, scheduled for February.
The Indian government is expected to bring together AI startups, global CEOs, and industry experts at the event.
The summit is part of efforts by New Delhi to position India as a serious player in the global AI landscape. It also signals government support for responsible AI development and deployment.
Hiring Plans
Anthropic is also building out its India team. Current job listings include roles for enterprise and startup account executives, as well as a partner sales manager.Â
These hires suggest a stronger go-to-market strategy focused on Indian businesses and startups.
With Irina Ghose leading the effort and a Bengaluru office on the way, Anthropic is entering a critical phase in India.
