Anthropic has recently introduced significant upgrades to its enterprise desktop tool Cowork, with the core breakthrough being Claude's ability to independently switch between Microsoft Excel and PowerPoint for cross-application collaboration. This means that AI agents can directly generate presentations based on the results after completing complex data analysis, greatly simplifying office workflows. This feature is now available as a research preview for all paid plan users.
At the same time, Anthropic is expanding Cowork's enterprise capabilities through a "private plugin market." Administrators can now create custom plugin sets and precisely distribute them to specific teams, transforming Claude into a dedicated AI expert for departments such as human resources, design, engineering, finance, and asset management. To lower the entry barrier, the official also launched multiple industry-specific new templates.
In the financial sector, Anthropic's efforts are particularly notable. Through the new MCP interface developed in collaboration with FactSet and MSCI, Claude can access real-time market data and index analysis. Industry giants such as S&P Global and LSEG have also contributed exclusive plugins.
Additionally, the new version has added connections with third-party software such as Google Workspace, DocuSign, Salesforce, and Slack. The management side has also been strengthened, allowing administrators to use OpenTelemetry to monitor costs and usage in real time. Although Cowork enhanced its departmental expert capabilities by adding new plugins in early February, the official reminded that the tool still has known security vulnerabilities, and companies should strengthen controls when using it.
