Anthropic ropes in former Microsoft executive to drive Claude adoption in Indian startups

Anthropic has appointed former Microsoft executive Sangeeta Bavi as Head for Digital Natives, Startups, and Growth for India. The AI start-up is looking to expand its presence in the country’s fast-growing startup ecosystem.

In her new role, Bavi will lead Anthropic’s efforts to drive adoption of Claude among Indian startups and mid-market companies.

During her nearly a decade-long stint at Microsoft, Bavi built the big tech company’s startups business from scratch and drove adoption of Azure OpenAI on enterprise accounts.

In her most recent role before joining Anthropic, she served as an advisor to deeptech VC Seafund; before that, she spent a year as Chief Operating Officer at YourStory Media. Earlier in her career, she also worked at Nokia and Wipro.

“As I got to know Anthropic, its people, its mission and its way of thinking, something clicked deeply. A place built on the conviction that AI must be safe and genuinely beneficial for humanity. Where frontier research, a growing product portfolio and a warm, deeply principled culture reinforce each other every single day,” she wrote in a LinkedIn post announcing the move.

Anthropic has been strengthening its leadership team in India and globally. Earlier this year, ex-Microsoft India MD Irina Ghose joined the AI giant as its India MD along with leading the establishment of its regional operations. The firm also onboarded Siddiq Zaman, former Senior Director – Global Partnerships & Channels at ServiceNow, as Head of Partnerships – India.