Software investors just got another reminder that AI is not only a tailwind. It is also a threat. The rollout of new Claude Cowork plug-ins from Anthropic is adding fresh pressure to an already wobbly software sector, sending a broad group of enterprise names lower.
What started as excitement about AI copilots is now turning into concern about who gets replaced.
From Legal Work to Everything Work
Anthropic’s latest plug-ins for Claude Cowork are designed to tailor the AI assistant to specific job functions. One legal-focused tool that can review documents, flag risks, and track compliance has already rattled legal software and publishing companies.
But the bigger story is scope. The new tools stretch far beyond law into productivity, enterprise search, sales, finance, data analysis, marketing, customer support, product management, and even biology research. There is also a meta plug-in that lets users build and customize their own plug-ins.
That kind of flexibility makes Claude Cowork look less like a niche assistant and more like a potential layer that sits on top of, or in place of, traditional software tools.
The Market Is Not Waiting Around
The iShares Expanded Tech Software ETF $IGV ( ▼ 4.61% ) fell sharply, reflecting broad pressure across the sector. Individual names tied to enterprise workflows were hit even harder, including DocuSign $DOCU ( ▼ 11.4% ) , Atlassian $TEAM ( ▼ 7.65% ) , Salesforce $CRM ( ▼ 6.85% ) , Workday $WDAY ( ▼ 7.04% ) , Adobe $ADBE ( ▼ 7.31% ) , and ServiceNow $NOW ( ▼ 6.98% ) .
Investors appear to be asking a simple but uncomfortable question. If AI can handle more of the actual work inside these tools, how much pricing power and growth are left for the platforms themselves?
For now, the answer from the market is cautious at best.
AI Is Moving Up the Value Chain
This is not just about chatbots writing emails anymore. Claude Cowork’s expanding capabilities show AI moving deeper into high-value professional tasks that used to require specialized software and trained users.
As AI tools become more capable and more integrated into daily workflows, software companies may need to prove they are essential platforms, not just features waiting to be automated. Until then, every new AI launch risks looking less like innovation and more like competition.