Anthropic appoints former Microsoft leader Irina Ghose as India MD

Irina Ghose

• Irina Ghose named Anthropic India MD, previously with Microsoft India
• Anthropic to open Bengaluru office, focusing on AI applications in India.
• India is Claude's second-largest market, with strong technical AI usage

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Artificial intelligence (AI) research company Anthropic on January 16 announced the appointment of former Microsoft India leader Irina Ghose as India managing director, ahead of opening its first India office in Bengaluru.

Where did Irina Ghose work before joining Anthropic?

Ghose has more than three decades of experience scaling technology businesses and most recently served as managing director for Microsoft India, where she led enterprise AI adoption across sectors including banking and financial services, healthcare, manufacturing, and government. She spent 24 years at the software giant.

"Irina's expertise in scaling technology businesses and driving enterprise transformation makes her the ideal leader as we expand," said Chris Ciauri, Managing Director of International, Anthropic.

"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" he added.

Ghose stated that India has an opportunity to shape how AI is built and deployed at scale.

“Indian organizations are moving beyond experimentation toward applied AI, where trust, safety, and long-term impact matter as much as innovation. Anthropic’s mission resonates with my belief that technology should empower people, expand access, and create lasting value across India’s diverse languages and communities,” she said.

What is Anthropic's India plan?

In October, Anthropic announced that it is opening its first India office in the country's tech capital Bengaluru, as the Claude maker looks to expand its international footprint amid intensifying competition from OpenAI, Google, Microsoft and Meta.

The company had also stated that it plans to hire a local team focused on building AI for unique local uses across the country. Moneycontrol had first reported about Anthropic's plans to open an office in Bengaluru.

Anthropic said that its India team will work closely with policymakers and academic institutions, strengthen developer engagement, and build partnerships with enterprises and organizations using AI to address local challenges.

The company is also prioritising model training on nearly a dozen Indian languages, including Bengali, Marathi, Telugu, Tamil, Punjabi, Gujarati, Kannada, Malayalam, and Urdu.

Why is India important for Anthropic?

India ranks as the second-largest market globally for Claude. Anthropic's fourth Economic Index showed that Indian users have a striking focus on technical applications, with nearly half of all Claude.ai usage concentrated in computer and mathematical tasks.

Anthropic co-founder Dario Amodei had earlier said that India is compelling because of the scale of its technical talent and the "commitment from the Indian government to ensure the benefits of artificial intelligence reach all areas of society, not just concentrated pockets".

“There is deep alignment between the challenges India is tackling and our mission as a company, from deploying AI across diverse languages and contexts, to building frameworks for responsible governance. India's AI ecosystem will play a central role in how AI develops globally and democratically, and we’re looking forward to working with organizations in India to pave a path for how beneficial AI can be scaled in a way that serves everyone," he said.

Also read: Inside Nandan Nilekani’s exclusive Koramangala dinner for Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei