Claude CoWork Breakthrough Triggers Sell-Off in Indian Tech | Vantage with Palki Sharma | N18G

0:35 They're calling it an AI apocalypse. An apocalypse triggered by AI. It has hit India's tech stocks. They've lost more than$22 billion in just one week. That's right. 22 billion wiped out in market value. Today, the tech sector fell again by another 2%. Now, if you count the whole week, it is down by 7%. The slide has been relentless and it's not just about this week. For the past one year, the tech sector has seen a steady decline. Since early 2025, the Nifty IT index has dropped by nearly 18%. This index tracks India's top 10 technology firms. They've lost nearly 1if of their value in the last year. Foreign investors have been pulling out.

1:20 In 2025, they dumped Indian tech stocks worth eight billion dollars. And this year the sell-off is accelerating. The trigger is a new wave of AI tools. We told you about this a few days back on the show about the new AI tools that are causing disruption, especially Claude's cowwork agent. Claude is an AI platform just like OpenAI's chat GPT. Claude is made by a company called Anthropic. And what does Claude co-work do? Well, it is more than a chatbot. It's an advanced workplace system. a system built to complete a task from start to finish. It can handle legal research. It can analyze company data. It can manage customer relationships. It can even write code and track projects. Think of it as a full-fledged assistant, one that

2:07 can write, review the work, and communicate all with minimum human intervention. And this is why tech stocks are falling because these AI tools directly compete with India's technology companies. They're exactly the services. These are exactly the services that these companies offer. Handling the backend, fixing and writing code, dealing with customers. Claude co-work can do all of it. And if an AI tool can do the job for a fraction of the cost, why will you hire a tech company for more money? So, their stocks are falling. Here's how Zoho's founder Shriharu put it. I'm quoting. At this point, it is best for those of us who depend on writing code for a living to start considering alternative livelihoods. I include

2:52 myself in this. I don't say this in panic, but with calm acceptance and embrace. Zoho is one of India's leading providers of software services. It was recently in the news for an app called Aratai. It is being positioned as an alternative to WhatsApp. Apps like these are written by coders, humans. But now Zoho's founder himself is talking about an alternative livelihood because apps like Claude are coding better than humans. And this space is getting crowded. The world's leading tech companies are competing for a slice of this pie. Open AAI has something called Codeex. Google has developed developed anti-gravity.

3:38 And they all do the same thing. They're finding ways to automate work, make it faster and cheaper. This is a clear challenge for tech companies, not just in India, but indeed the world over. The companies that build traditional software and apps are taking a beating. Look at the United States. The S&P 500's software index is also down. This index has 140 global software companies. Yesterday, it fell by over 4%. So the fear and the selloff is a global phenomenon and this may be just the beginning. 2026 could prove to be a tough year for the technology sector. The world's biggest tech giants are planning to invest more into AI tools. Amazon has just announced that it will

4:25 spend some $200 billion. Meta, Google, and Microsoft have all hiked their budgets. They plan to spend big on AI this year. Together, big tech is set to invest a whopping $660 billion, $660 billion into AI. For perspective, that's more than the GDP of Israel. And this spending wave is reminding people of the risks, too. It will increase the fears of an AI bubble. Because remember, as companies invest and innovate, the returns are not guaranteed. Despite the risk, big tech is doubling down. So where does this leave Indian tech companies? They're clearly vulnerable. Major firms like TCS, Infosys and Vipro have announced their own AI partnerships. But there's no denying

5:11 that they are only playing catch-up. For decades, India's tech industry built a strong identity. It became the world's back office handling all their code, processes, and customer support. But now AI can do most of it, and it's cheaper and faster. The jobs tied to these tasks may not vanish overnight, but they will erode and the business models behind them are certainly under pressure. India's $254 billion IT industry is at a crossroads. It urgently needs a new playbook. >> The time for talk is over. >> He led a liberation war. He became the face of a new nation.

6:00 To millions he was Bangabandu, but power concentrated fast. One day before dawn, soldiers arrived. Gunfire tore through his home. Muji Raman was assassinated. The assassination. This Saturday, 8:00 p.m. India time, 2:30 p.m. GMT.