Anthropic launches Claude Duet proactive AI agent for professionals

A proactive digital colleague

Anthropic recently unveiled Claude Duet, a new AI agent designed specifically for professionals and small businesses. Unlike standard AI models that wait for a user to type a prompt, Duet is built to be proactive. It reaches out to the user to provide updates or request decisions rather than remaining idle in a chat window.

The agent functions as a digital colleague that can communicate through both text and voice. Users can interact with it naturally, similar to how they would speak with a human team member. Because it is built on your existing Claude account, it automatically inherits your reminders, skills, and connected apps without requiring a complex setup process.

Every morning, the agent provides a summary of the most important news and appointments from your connected apps. Throughout the day, it monitors your accounts and only initiates contact when a specific decision is required from you. This approach aims to reduce the need for constant manual checking of various platforms.

Cloud-based background work

One of the most significant technical features of Claude Duet is its ability to run in a virtual machine in the cloud. This means the agent can continue working on your tasks even when your smartphone or laptop is completely turned off. It does not need your device to be active to process information or complete projects.

The agent is powered by Claude Opus 5.5 and is available as a dedicated app for web, iOS, and Android platforms. Because it lives in the cloud, it can handle long-running projects that might take time to complete. It can build dashboards, create revenue and financial forecasts, or develop prototypes and web apps for your business.

When the agent finishes a large project, it delivers the final results in a structured format. You will receive these outputs as documents, spreadsheets, or presentations for your review. This allows the AI to do the heavy lifting of data organization while you focus on the final approval.

Integrations and permissions

Claude Duet leverages the Claude Marketplace, which currently offers more than 6,000 integrations. These include common business tools such as Gmail, Slack, Stripe, HubSpot, QuickBooks, and Shopify. Additionally, the agent can interact with Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides for direct use within those platforms.

To ensure safety, Anthropic has built in several safeguards for an agent that acts independently. Duet is required to ask for your explicit permission before it can send messages, initiate payments, sign documents, or delete any data. It is also strictly prohibited from trading securities or transferring money between different accounts, even if the user gives consent.

For purchases, the agent uses Stripe’s payment service called Link. It can order items like office supplies after you confirm the specific items and the total amount. During this process, the agent uses a virtual card so that it never sees your actual card number. An automatic classifier also checks if any action might lead to a leak of sensitive data.

Early access and limitations

Claude Duet is currently in a Research Preview phase, meaning it is still experimental. Anthropic notes that the agent might occasionally misinterpret a conversation or misjudge how urgent a task is. Because it is designed for work, it is currently less reliable for personal tasks like booking travel.

The preview is currently available only to Pro and Max subscribers in the United States via a waitlist. While there is no extra charge for the service, it uses the same usage quota as the rest of the Claude service. Anthropic has not yet specified exactly how much of the quota the background processing consumes.

Currently, Team and Enterprise customers are excluded from this preview. It is also currently unclear when the service will become available in other regions, such as Germany. Users in the preview cannot yet see the agent's browser activity in real time as it performs tasks.