Analysts say the concern is no longer about AI supporting existing models, but replacing entire layers of corporate workflows, a shift that Jefferies has dubbed as the "SaaSpocalypse," as per Bloomberg.
Take a look at a sector-wise breakdown of the companies most exposed — and the services now under pressure:
Legal and information services
RELX (LexisNexis), Thomson Reuters, Wolters Kluwer
Legal research, compliance analysis and document-heavy workflows are among the most directly affected of these firms.
Anthropic’s new Legal plugin can speed up contract review, NDA triage, compliance workflows, and legal drafting for in-house legal teams, which are the tasks that underpin subscription revenues at firms such as LexisNexis, Westlaw and Practical Law.
Shares of LegalZoom fell 20%, Thomson Reuters (owner of Westlaw) dropped over 15% and RELX declined 14% amid fears that AI-driven legal reasoning could reduce reliance on premium databases, CNBC-TV18 reported earlier.
While these companies still own vast proprietary datasets, investors worry that AI could become the primary interface, weakening seat-based pricing models, as per Reuters.
Read more: What is Anthropic’s new AI tool and why it has triggered a ‘SaaSpocalypse’
These companies are also involved in legal consulting, and they reportedly monetise the legal process and not just the data. With AI now being able to perform and simplify these complex legal tasks quickly and at minimal cost, such services have come under direct threat.
Data, research and analytics providers
S&P Global, FactSet, Morningstar, Gartner
Claude Cowork Financial plugin's ability to ingest earnings calls, filings and macro data and generate narrative analysis has raised alarms across financial research firms.
While raw data terminals remain essential, value-added commentary, equity research summaries and advisory notes are increasingly vulnerable, as per Reuters.
Gartner, whose business relies heavily on expert synthesis and CIO advisory, is seen as particularly exposed as enterprises test AI-generated vendor comparisons and strategy memos in place of recurring subscriptions, as per Bloomberg.
Anthropic's plugins threaten the financial analysis and reasoning that these companies provide. Even if these don't affect the raw data terminals, the junior analyst workflows, and the customised research services can be hurt, as the AI now becomes capable enough to provide the pros and cons of certain conditions.
Enterprise software and SaaS platforms
Salesforce, Adobe, ServiceNow, Workday, DocuSign
Anthropic’s new plugins allow Claude Cowork agents to perform tasks that previously required navigating enterprise software interfaces.
Sales, marketing, data and workflow automation tools now overlap with core offerings from Salesforce and ServiceNow, while content creation and early-stage design workflows threaten Adobe’s creative moat.
Several of these stocks fell between 6% and 8% in overnight US trade as investors questioned whether AI agents could reduce the need for multiple SaaS subscriptions, as per Bloomberg.
From ideation to copywriting and laying out the workflows, the AI tools are becoming a creator rather than just assisting a creator. With the possibility of simple thoughts being able to be transformed into creatives, without even having to know how to use the tools that the companies such as Adobe, DocuSign provide, these companies are expected to bear the brunt of the Anthropic features.
With Anthropic's marketing plugin not only being able to create content, and plan campaigns, but also analyse performance across marketing channels, the same services provided by Salesforce have come into existential crisis.
Indian IT services and global consultancies
Infosys, TCS, Wipro, HCL Technologies, Persistent, Accenture, Cognizant
The sell-off spilled into Indian IT stocks as clients reassess spending on traditional application maintenance, business process outsourcing and analytics work. US-listed ADRs of Infosys and Wipro fell 6% and 5%, while Accenture and Cognizant slid up to 10%, CNBC-TV18, reported earlier.
The document-heavy services, L1/L2 support and junior analyst work that these companies provide now potentially face pricing pressure as AI-led automation could possibly reduce headcount intensity, as per Reuters.
Read more: Infosys, Wipro, Persistent, other IT shares fall up to 7% on SaaS sell-off; TCS m-cap below ₹11 lakh crore
Competition intensifying ahead in enterprise AI
Anthropic’s move comes amid intensifying competition in enterprise AI, with OpenAI, Google and Microsoft all pushing deeper into corporate workflows. OpenAI has expanded its ChatGPT Enterprise and developer tools, while Microsoft continues to integrate AI across Office and Azure through Copilot.
Google is positioning its Gemini models as enterprise-grade alternatives via Google Cloud. Meanwhile, specialist players such as Cohere and legal-tech startups like Harvey AI are also targeting regulated industries with tailored AI solutions.
The rapid evolution of AI capabilities is forcing investors to reconsider long-standing assumptions about the defensibility of data, research and software subscription businesses, as per a report by The Financial Times.
As Jefferies noted, sentiment has shifted "from 'AI helps these companies' to 'AI replaces these companies." Whether firms adapt or lose relevance will likely define the next phase of the enterprise software cycle.
