Can Anthropic style AI plug ins really break IT stocks

Anthropic’s Claude Cowork plug ins triggered a single day global software wipeout of about 285 billion US dollars, while the Nifty IT index fell nearly 8 percent and lost roughly 2 lakh crore rupees in value, in the worst crash since March 2020. Fear is being driven by the idea that an open source, agent based workspace can automate legal, sales, marketing and data analysis tasks that were billed using human seats. And when Anthropic’s founder says AI may do almost everything software engineers do within six to twelve months, traders naturally press the panic button because they see direct risk to utilisation and pricing.

Yet, this same tool lowers the cost of building software but raises demand for integration, governance and orchestration, so experienced services firms can move from plain staff augmentation to an AI builder role. Indian experts point out that every earlier wave, from ERP to cloud, ultimately expanded the pie for system integrators that learnt fast and partnered well. Even today, venture and industry leaders argue that enterprises rarely rip out core systems overnight and instead layer new AI interfaces, so the immediate selloff looks like an overreaction, driven more by generalist money flows than by actual earnings data.

So, should you plug out now or stay with the chaos a little longer. If you have a three to five year view, this episode is better read as a brutal reminder that low end, seat based work is vulnerable, but high value, AI heavy transformation work can create new profit pools. A sensible Indian investor can stay invested through staggered buying, favour firms that clearly talk about AI builder strategies and diversified partnerships, and accept that the next few quarters may see more price swings as markets reprice the impact of Claude style coworking agents.