Anthropic is continuing its push into the enterprise market with the launch of Claude for Small Business.
As the name indicates, the software is designed to help small business owners take advantage of the AI wave.
Adoption of AI by small enterprises continues to lag that of larger companies, despite their key role in the U.S. economy.
“Small businesses account for 44% of U.S. GDP and employ nearly half the private-sector workforce, but their adoption of AI has lagged behind larger enterprises,” as a post on the Anthropic website said.“Tools and training are rarely tailored to the ways small businesses operate, and as a result, their use often stops at the chat window,” the statement continued.
Anthropic’s answer is this package, released on May 13, which puts Claude inside many of the tools small businesses depend on, and is built on Claude Cowork, the general-purpose AI agent introduced earlier this year, which automates a host of non-coding tasks such as managing files and checking inboxes.
Claude for Small Business offers enhanced functionality using a toggle that allows Claude to get to work in a number of familiar third-party applications commonly used by enterprises of this size. These include Intuit QuickBooks, PayPal, HubSpot, Canva, DocuSign, Google Workspace and Microsoft 365.
It also ships with 15 ready-to-run workflows covering areas as diverse as finance, sales, HR, customer service and planning payroll, plus 15 skills that Anthropic says small businesses have identified as causing regular problems.
Other tasks that Anthropic says the small business platform can help with include closing the monthly books, scheduling, campaign analysis, invoices, reviewing contracts and preparing for tax season.
Several businesses are already using the software, among them Simple Modern, an Oklahoma-based drinkware manufacturer, whose CEO, Mike Beckham, said in a statement: “What we used to think were the constraints are just not constraints anymore. Hours of looking at stuff that doesn’t matter are gone. I want an entire organization where everybody is using these tools daily.”
The release is being supported by the launch of a Claude for Small Business tour, which will provide free training and workshops for small business owners and employees.
