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Hi AI Futurists,
Anthropic just rolled out Claude for Excel and new financial connectors and agent skills, making Claude a full-stack financial co-pilot that integrates directly into spreadsheets, market data systems, and analysis workflows. Let’s take a look.
Here’s our agenda.
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Top AI news
Claude Can Crunch Those Numbers
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AI in the wild
Best,
Lex Sokolin
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Ecosystem: AI Venture Fund | Fintech Research | Lex Linkedin / Twitter
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Claude Can Crunch Those Numbers
Anthropic has expanded Claude for Financial Services with a beta Excel add-in, real-time data connectors, and new Agent Skills built to automate complex financial workflows. The update builds on the strong performance of Claude Sonnet 4.5, which recently led the Vals AI Finance Agent benchmark with 55.3% accuracy. These upgrades aim to reduce manual modeling and reporting work across banking, asset management, and private equity.
The new Claude for Excel lets analysts work directly with the model inside Microsoft Excel, where Claude can read, modify, and explain spreadsheets. As Alexander Bricken, Applied AI Lead for Financial Services, noted, the goal is “to make AI a transparent, explainable partner in the analyst’s workflow.” Users can ask Claude to fix formulas, run valuations, or generate new models, all with full traceability of its actions.
Meanwhile, Claude’s connectors—including Moody’s, LSEG, Morningstar, and PitchBook—enable instant access to live financial, market, and company data. The model’s new Agent Skills extend its capabilities further, automating discounted cash flow models, comparable company analyses, and coverage reports. With these integrations, Anthropic is positioning Claude as an intelligent co-pilot for financial professionals, combining compliance-grade data governance with AI assistance.
This evolution suggests a shift in finance: from manual data manipulation toward strategic interpretation. As automation takes on the heavy modeling, human insight may soon be valued less for calculation and more for judgment—the rare skill machines can’t model.
Takeaways at a Glance:
Claude for Excel enables direct spreadsheet editing, auditing, and explanation.
Connectors include Moody’s, LSEG, PitchBook, and others for real-time financial data.
New Agent Skills automate DCFs, comps, due diligence, and coverage reports.
Built on Claude Sonnet 4.5, leading financial AI benchmarks.
Available in beta for Max, Enterprise, and Teams users.
What We Think About It:
This is a strategic move by Anthropic to lock in institutional adoption of Claude through deep integration with Microsoft and finance data providers. The Excel sidebar is a breakthrough in usability—meeting analysts where they already work. Real-time connectors and skill modules show that LLMs are maturing into operational tools, not just conversational aides.
What You Can Do Right Now:
f you use Excel at work, start imagining it as a true AI assistant — one that can read your spreadsheets, catch errors, and even help you build models from scratch. You can join the waitlist for Claude for Excel’s beta or explore similar AI add-ins already emerging in the Microsoft ecosystem.
If you’re in finance or business, try experimenting with AI copilots to automate small but tedious parts of your day — reconciling data, drafting reports, or refreshing financial models. You don’t need to replace your workflow; just start noticing where AI can quietly shave off time. The firms adopting these tools first will build a compounding advantage — freeing up human attention for what actually moves markets: thinking clearly, not typing faster.
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AI in the wild
We’re expanding Claude for Financial Services, with an Excel add-in, new connectors to real-time data and market analytics, and pre-built Agent Skills, including cash flow models and initiating coverage reports.
— #Anthropic (#@AnthropicAI)
4:12 PM • Oct 27, 2025
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