Anthropic introduces Claude Duet agent for professional workflows
Anthropic has introduced Claude Duet, a new AI agent for professionals and small businesses that is built on the Claude Opus 5.5 model. The company says Duet can connect to more than 6,000 connectors and plugins through the Claude Marketplace, build daily briefings and dashboards, and suggest actions from a user’s data.
Claude Duet is available in research preview as an iOS and Android app and on the web through Claude.ai. Access is limited to Claude Pro and Max customers who join a waitlist.
An agent designed for business tasks
Anthropic is positioning Duet separately from personal agents. It is not intended to run errands or book tickets, and it does not provide a live view of its browser activity. Instead, the company describes a system that can take on work in the background in its own virtual machine while the user does something else.
When Duet reaches a step that needs confirmation, it can return to the user for approval. Anthropic says it can proactively deliver recommendations while monitoring ongoing tasks, an approach that extends the company’s workplace-agent direction from Claude Cowork’s web and mobile expansion into task management and connected business services.
Purchases and controls
Among Duet’s supported actions are online purchases through Stripe’s Link digital wallet and Shopify’s Shop Pay. Anthropic says sensitive steps, including payments, require user approval. The company also sets explicit boundaries: Duet will not trade securities or move money between accounts.
The release includes a new classifier intended to inspect each message and prevent sensitive information from leaking. By default, Anthropic says the agent will decline requests for credit-card numbers and government identification.
Growing competition for work agents
The launch comes as AI providers shift from assistants that respond to prompts toward agents designed to act on users’ behalf. Anthropic’s competitors are also pursuing business applications: Meta offers a small-business version of Muse with connections to other apps, while OpenAI’s Dots integrates with professional tools.
For businesses evaluating Claude Duet, the immediate implication is to examine which connectors receive access, where approval is mandatory and how sensitive-data policies apply before allowing an agent to perform operational tasks.