Anthropic has appointed Irina Ghose, the former managing director of Microsoft India, to lead its India business as the US-based AI startup prepares to open an office in Bengaluru. The move reflects the growing importance of India as AI companies look beyond the US for large growth markets and sustained enterprise adoption.
Senior Hire To Anchor India Presence
Ghose spent 24 years at Microsoft before stepping down in December 2025. Her appointment gives Anthropic senior local leadership with experience across enterprise sales, government engagement, and large-scale operations. The company is preparing to establish an on-the-ground presence in India, where market access often depends on local partnerships, pricing decisions, and relationships with large institutions.
India’s Role In Anthropic’s Growth Strategy
India has become one of Anthropic’s most important markets by usage. The country is now the second-largest user base for Claude, with activity concentrated on technical and work-related tasks such as software development. The focus on professional use has positioned India as a testing ground for how AI tools move from experimentation to daily enterprise workflows.
Rival firms are also increasing their presence. OpenAI has announced plans to open an office in New Delhi, signaling that India is becoming one of the most competitive regions in the race to commercialize generative AI.
Scale, Pricing, And Revenue Challenges
India offers scale, with more than a billion internet subscribers and over 700 million smartphone users. Converting that reach into revenue has proved difficult, leading AI companies to test aggressive pricing and promotions. OpenAI last year launched ChatGPT Go, a plan priced below $5, and later made it free for a year in India.
Anthropic has faced similar dynamics. The Claude app recorded a 48% year-on-year increase in downloads in India in September, reaching about 767,000 installs, according to Appfigures. Consumer spending rose 572% to $195,000 for the month, still far below the US, where September spending reached $2.5 million.
Executive Engagement And Distribution Efforts
Anthropic has increased engagement at senior levels. Chief executive Dario Amodei visited India in October and met corporate leaders and lawmakers, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, to discuss adoption and expansion plans. The company also explored a potential partnership with Reliance Industries to widen access to Claude, as previously reported by TechCrunch. Reliance later partnered with Google to offer Gemini AI Pro free to Jio subscribers.
Similar moves by telecom operators have shaped the market. Bharti Airtel partnered with Perplexity to bundle access to its premium subscription, underlining how India’s telecom groups act as key distribution channels for consumer AI services.
Enterprise Focus And Local Language Use
In a LinkedIn post announcing her appointment, Ghose said she would focus on working with Indian enterprises, developers, and startups using Claude for mission-critical applications. She pointed to demand for what she described as high-trust, enterprise-grade AI and said tools adapted for local languages could support adoption across sectors such as education and healthcare.
Talent Build-Out And Policy Backdrop
Anthropic is expanding its India team, with open roles including startup and enterprise account executives and a partner sales manager, indicating a push to strengthen go-to-market efforts. The appointment also comes ahead of India’s AI Impact Summit 2026 in February, where the government plans to convene startups, global executives, and policymakers to discuss AI deployment.
India’s domestic GenAI ecosystem remains at an early stage. While the country has a large pool of software talent and a growing user base, investment has focused more on application-layer startups than on building large foundation models, which require significant capital.
For Anthropic, Ghose’s appointment adds senior leadership as the company works to convert rapid usage growth in India into a durable business, in a market shaped by pricing pressure, distribution partnerships, and enterprise adoption.
Featured image credits: Wikimedia Commons
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