Anthropic is executing a high-speed version of the classic “platform play” (similar to Microsoft in the 1990s), moving from being a model provider to owning an enterprise platform.
The Layers of the Platform
- Developer Tools: Claude Code provides the foundation for developers.
- Enterprise Tools: Claude Co-work extends capabilities into corporate workflows.
- Distribution/Marketplace: A proprietary marketplace allows for custom extensions.
- The Final Layer (Conway): The Conway project serves as the “Active Directory” or the persistent layer that integrates all these services.
Moving Beyond Models
The competition is shifting from model benchmarks (GPT vs. Claude) to persistence and memory. Success in this era will be defined by who owns the interface where work actually happens, effectively creating a proprietary ecosystem on top of open standards like MCP.