Artificial Intelligence startup Anthropic has made a significant leadership appointment by naming Microsoft executive Irina Ghosh as Managing Director ahead of opening its first India office. This strategic move marks an important milestone in the AI company's expansion into the Indian market.

Leadership Appointment Details

Ghosh brings extensive experience from her tenure at Microsoft, where she has overseen India operations for over two decades. Her appointment comes as Anthropic prepares to establish its inaugural office presence in India, positioning the company to tap into the country's growing technology sector.

Strategic Expansion Move

The appointment represents Anthropic's commitment to expanding its global footprint, with India being a key market for the artificial intelligence sector. Ghosh's extensive background in managing Microsoft's India operations provides valuable local market expertise as Anthropic establishes its presence in the region.

This leadership decision underscores the growing importance of the Indian market for international AI companies seeking to expand their operations and tap into the country's technology talent pool.

Anthropic has implemented a major leadership restructuring as it expands its internal AI incubator, reflecting the rapid advancement of artificial intelligence and its impact on product development strategies. The changes, announced on January 14, position the company to better navigate the evolving AI landscape through a dual-track organizational approach.

Leadership Transition at Senior Level

Mike Krieger, Instagram co-founder and Anthropic's Chief Product Officer for the past two years, will step away from his C-suite role to co-lead Labs alongside Ben Mann, the company's product engineering lead. Krieger will report directly to Anthropic President Daniela Amodei and assume the title of member of technical staff.

Labs Incubator Expansion

The expanded Labs unit will serve as Anthropic's central hub for incubating experimental products built at the frontier of Claude model capabilities. The division will focus on three key areas: early-stage exploration, testing unpolished tools with select users, and scaling successful ideas into reliable products.

"The speed of advancement in AI demands a different approach to how we build, how we organise, and where we focus. Labs gives us room to break the mold and explore," stated President Daniela Amodei.

Product Organization Restructuring

Ami Vora, who joined Anthropic in late 2025, will assume responsibility for the Product organization. She will collaborate closely with Chief Technology Officer Rahul Patil to scale Claude-related products across both enterprise and consumer use cases.

This dual-track structure is designed to balance experimentation with reliability. The approach has previously yielded successful products including Claude Code and the Model Context Protocol (MCP), which has reached approximately 100 million monthly downloads.

Strategic Vision and Industry Impact

Krieger emphasized that the decision reflects a critical juncture for the AI industry. "We've reached a watershed moment in AI—model capabilities are advancing so fast that the window to shape how they're used is now. That's why I'm getting back into builder mode, moving from my role as CPO and joining our Labs team," he explained.

The restructuring positions Anthropic to maintain its competitive edge in AI safety and research while fostering innovation through dedicated experimental channels. Krieger expressed enthusiasm about returning to hands-on development, stating his desire to build products that channel AI toward solving complex global challenges while supporting Vora's leadership in scaling Claude's capabilities.