Anthropic Bengaluru office: IT stocks set for next selloff? India now 2nd largest market for Claude AI
Anthropic said its India team will offer applied AI expertise to enterprise customers, digital natives and startups in the country, helping them design, build, and scale Claude-powered solutions tailored to their business needs.
- Feb 16, 2026,
- Updated Feb 16, 2026 5:33 PM IST
Anthropic opening a Bengaluru office and entering into news partnerships across India is unlikely to trigger any significant round of selloff in IT stocks. This is even as analysts said the new office signals accelerating AI adoption in India, which could pose long-term structural challenges to labor-intensive IT service models.
In a press release earlier today, Anthropic said its run-rate revenue in India has doubled since it announced its expansion in October 2025, adding that India is now the second-largest market for Claude AI. Anthropic said its India team will offer applied AI expertise to enterprise customers, digital natives and startups in the country, helping them design, build, and scale Claude-powered solutions tailored to their business needs.
"These partnerships will grow in the coming months and years through our expanded presence in India. Our new Bengaluru office—Anthropic’s second in Asia after Tokyo—has officially opened. Led by Managing Director of India Irina Ghose, an enterprise and startup technology leader, the office will focus on hiring local talent across a wide array of roles," it said.
Large domestic IT firms generate most of their revenues outside India. For example, TCS generated only 8.6 per cent of its revenue from India in FY25. This is against 48.2 per cent of its revenue from North America, 16.8 per cent from United Kingdom, 14.3 per cent from Continental Europe and 8 per cent from Asia Pacific. Infosys' India revenue stood at a mere 3.1 per cent for FY25.
Santosh Meena, Head of Research at Swastika Investmart Ltd said Anthropic's announcement on Bengaluru office and plans for local hiring and partnerships do not appear to introduce any significant new negative pressure on Indian IT stocks beyond the existing concerns around AI-led disruption.
The IT sector, Meena said, has already witnessed sharp declines this month, with the Nifty IT index falling over 14 per cent month-to-date and nearly 9 per cent in the previous four sessions.
"This weakness has largely been driven by earlier AI developments, including launches such as Claude Cowork, which intensified fears that automation could erode traditional outsourcing revenues," Meena said.
The analyst said while the new office signals accelerating AI adoption in India, which could pose long-term structural challenges to labor-intensive IT service models, the immediate market reaction appears more linked to ongoing global AI-related concerns rather than this specific expansion.
"Notably, Anthropic’s leadership has emphasised collaboration and coexistence with enterprises rather than outright workforce replacement. Overall, further near-term downside appears limited unless materially disruptive AI tools or developments emerge," Meena said.
The IT services industry originally scaled due to the challenges of maintaining large volumes of self-built, non-standardised, and security-vulnerable code.
"Over time, enterprises shifted toward packaged software + vendor-led customization to address these concerns. As shown in Exhibit 2, self-built software currently accounts for 14 per cent of total software spend, down from 35-40 per cent in the 90s," said MOFSL.
In the long term, answers to whether the industry goes extinct, thrives, or just survives would come by easily, MOFSL said. In the short term, it is sticking to forecasting earnings growth for the next two years, which, as shown earlier, seems to be improving.
"For the medium term, getting to AI should be a revenue-accretive opportunity, and we believe IT services vendors have a role to play. We keep our estimates unchanged as of now, as we look for more evidence to factor in the current narrative," it said.
Anthropic opening a Bengaluru office and entering into news partnerships across India is unlikely to trigger any significant round of selloff in IT stocks. This is even as analysts said the new office signals accelerating AI adoption in India, which could pose long-term structural challenges to labor-intensive IT service models.
In a press release earlier today, Anthropic said its run-rate revenue in India has doubled since it announced its expansion in October 2025, adding that India is now the second-largest market for Claude AI. Anthropic said its India team will offer applied AI expertise to enterprise customers, digital natives and startups in the country, helping them design, build, and scale Claude-powered solutions tailored to their business needs.
"These partnerships will grow in the coming months and years through our expanded presence in India. Our new Bengaluru office—Anthropic’s second in Asia after Tokyo—has officially opened. Led by Managing Director of India Irina Ghose, an enterprise and startup technology leader, the office will focus on hiring local talent across a wide array of roles," it said.
Large domestic IT firms generate most of their revenues outside India. For example, TCS generated only 8.6 per cent of its revenue from India in FY25. This is against 48.2 per cent of its revenue from North America, 16.8 per cent from United Kingdom, 14.3 per cent from Continental Europe and 8 per cent from Asia Pacific. Infosys' India revenue stood at a mere 3.1 per cent for FY25.
Santosh Meena, Head of Research at Swastika Investmart Ltd said Anthropic's announcement on Bengaluru office and plans for local hiring and partnerships do not appear to introduce any significant new negative pressure on Indian IT stocks beyond the existing concerns around AI-led disruption.
The IT sector, Meena said, has already witnessed sharp declines this month, with the Nifty IT index falling over 14 per cent month-to-date and nearly 9 per cent in the previous four sessions.
"This weakness has largely been driven by earlier AI developments, including launches such as Claude Cowork, which intensified fears that automation could erode traditional outsourcing revenues," Meena said.
The analyst said while the new office signals accelerating AI adoption in India, which could pose long-term structural challenges to labor-intensive IT service models, the immediate market reaction appears more linked to ongoing global AI-related concerns rather than this specific expansion.
"Notably, Anthropic’s leadership has emphasised collaboration and coexistence with enterprises rather than outright workforce replacement. Overall, further near-term downside appears limited unless materially disruptive AI tools or developments emerge," Meena said.
The IT services industry originally scaled due to the challenges of maintaining large volumes of self-built, non-standardised, and security-vulnerable code.
"Over time, enterprises shifted toward packaged software + vendor-led customization to address these concerns. As shown in Exhibit 2, self-built software currently accounts for 14 per cent of total software spend, down from 35-40 per cent in the 90s," said MOFSL.
In the long term, answers to whether the industry goes extinct, thrives, or just survives would come by easily, MOFSL said. In the short term, it is sticking to forecasting earnings growth for the next two years, which, as shown earlier, seems to be improving.
"For the medium term, getting to AI should be a revenue-accretive opportunity, and we believe IT services vendors have a role to play. We keep our estimates unchanged as of now, as we look for more evidence to factor in the current narrative," it said.