Anthropic appoints former Microsoft India chief Irina Ghose to lead India business

Anthropic has appointed former Microsoft India managing director Irina Ghose as its new managing director for India, as the US artificial intelligence startup prepares to open its first office in Bengaluru and deepen its expansion in one of its fastest-growing markets.

Ghose, a three-decade technology industry veteran, most recently served as managing director of Microsoft India, where she led enterprise adoption of artificial intelligence across sectors including banking, healthcare, manufacturing and government. She will be responsible for building Anthropic’s local leadership team, expanding enterprise and government partnerships, and strengthening developer and research engagement in the country.

“India has a real opportunity to shape how AI is built and deployed at scale,” Ghose said in a statement. “Indian organisations are moving beyond experimentation toward applied AI, where trust, safety and long-term impact matter as much as innovation.”

Anthropic, backed by Amazon and Google, is the creator of the Claude family of large language models, which compete with OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini. The company has been steadily expanding its international footprint as demand for generative AI accelerates across enterprises and governments.

India is now Anthropic’s second-largest global market for Claude.ai, according to the company. Its latest Economic Index report found that nearly half of all Claude usage in India is concentrated in computer science and mathematics-related tasks, reflecting the country’s strong developer base and growing demand for technical AI applications.

Chris Ciauri, managing director of international at Anthropic, said Ghose’s experience in scaling technology businesses and driving enterprise transformation made her the right choice to lead the company’s India push.

“As we grow our teams and deepen engagement across India’s public and private sectors, Irina will ensure our approach is grounded in local insight and aligned with our mission,” Ciauri said.

Anthropic said its India team will work closely with policymakers and academic institutions, build partnerships with enterprises, and support organisations using AI to address local challenges, including across India’s many languages and communities.