Fast-growing AI startup Anthropic has released a batch of new features aimed at helping workers be more productive while collaborating with Claude, its popular AI model. With the new features, users will be able to set up automated workflows for Claude to follow, and use Claude to search through Microsoft 365 on their behalf.
In a blog post, Anthropic wrote that Claude can now use a feature called skills. These skills operate like a folder that contains instructions for how Claude should perform a specific task and any relevant resources needed to help it do that task.
Here’s how it works in practice, according to a video demo posted by Anthropic. Say you need to make marketing materials for a new video game you’re working on. By uploading a .ZIP file containing brand guidelines for your game and text instructions for how Claude should convert those guidelines, you create a skill that Claude can call upon whenever it needs to make documents or art assets in your brand’s style.
Skills are also how Claude connects to external apps, such as Google Drive and Microsoft 365. When Claude needs to create a PowerPoint presentation, for example, it calls upon the PowerPoint skill. That skill gives Claude the information and guidance it needs to create working presentations.
For customers of Anthropic’s workplace-focused Team and Enterprise plans, administrators can enable company-wide skills. Skills can also be used across Anthropic’s collection of products, including its consumer-facing Claude.ai site and mobile app, Claude Code, and its API.
The skills aren’t just useful for marketing and presentations. In addition, Anthropic has announced that users can now directly connect Claude to Microsoft 365. Through this connection, users will be able to ask Claude to search through emails, messages, and dates contained in apps like Outlook, Teams, and Calendar. Claude can also now connect to Microsoft SharePoint and OneDrive, giving it access to your organization’s files. The Microsoft 365 integration is exclusively available on Claude Team and Enterprise plans.
Anthropic is also making it easier for enterprises to connect all of their work apps to Claude through a new feature called “enterprise search.” By connecting external apps to Claude, workers can quickly surface information that might otherwise be difficult to find. You could connect your PTO vendor to Claude so your employees can simply ask how much time off they still have this year.
According to Anthropic, enterprise search “is particularly valuable for onboarding new team members, answering strategic questions like analyzing patterns in customer feedback, and quickly identifying the right internal experts to consult on any topic.”
Ben Sherry
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