MUMBAI, India: India's IT stocks were jolted as a fresh wave of artificial intelligence innovation reignited fears about the future of the country's staffing-heavy outsourcing model.
Shares of Indian IT exporters slumped 6.3 percent, tracking a broader selloff in global software stocks after U.S.-based Anthropic unveiled new automation tools that investors fear could upend work traditionally done by large teams in data and professional services.
Anthropic, late last week, launched plug-ins for its Claude Cowork agent designed to automate tasks across legal, sales, marketing, and data analysis. The move triggered sharp losses in U.S. and European data analytics and software stocks. It intensified concerns in India's US$283 billion IT sector, which relies heavily on deploying large workforces to execute client projects.
The Indian IT sub-index was on track for its worst session since March 2020, with all 10 of its constituents trading lower. Infosys led the rout, tumbling 7.3 percent.
Other sector heavyweights also posted steep losses. TCS fell 5.8 percent, Wipro dropped 3.9 percent, while HCLTech slid 5.1 percent.
"As Indian enterprises integrate Claude for critical coding workflows, dependency on large vendor teams may decline, squeezing billable hours and margins," said Systematix Group analyst Ambrish Shah.
He added that Anthropic's advanced AI systems could also threaten the entry-level talent pool at Indian IT firms by replacing routine development and testing tasks, deepening worries about job creation and long-term workforce demand in the sector.
