Anthropic and Perplexity both dropped major finance updates on the same day. Here’s what each one actually does, what plan you need, and three things to try, even if you don’t work in finance.
On May 5, 2026, Anthropic announced 10 ready-made finance agents, alongside its Claude add-ins for Excel, Word and PowerPoint, now generally available. Dario Amodei and JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon shared a stage in New York for the first time to talk about it. (Anthropic, Fortune)
The same day, Perplexity launched Computer for Professional Finance: 35 ready-made workflows that can plug into licensed data from Morningstar and PitchBook, among others. (Perplexity)
Finance is one of the most cautious industries in the white-collar world, and two of the biggest AI companies went after it on the same day. That tells you where every other industry is going next.
They overlap, but they’re for different jobs.
01
Anthropic’s 10 finance agents
Best for doing the work itself. Think models, decks and memos.
Where it lives. Plugins in Claude Cowork and Claude Code on paid plans. The Claude add-ins for Excel, Word and PowerPoint are on Pro, Max, Team and Enterprise.
The agents. Pitch Builder, Meeting Preparer, Earnings Reviewer, Model Builder, Market Researcher, Valuation Reviewer, General Ledger Reconciler, Month-End Closer, Statement Auditor and KYC Screener.
02
Perplexity’s 35 finance workflows
Best for getting the data. Think company tearsheets, comps and market research, with citations.
Where it lives. Perplexity Computer, with workflows for ten areas such as real estate, private equity and public equities. Data from Morningstar, PitchBook, Daloopa and Carbon Arc connects with your own subscription.
Plan. Computer is on Pro with limited weekly use, and Max ($200 a month) comes with far more credits. (How credits work)
A Bloomberg Terminal seat is widely reported at about $32,000 a year (Bloomberg doesn’t publish prices). Perplexity Max is $2,400 a year billed monthly, or $2,000 billed yearly (Perplexity). That’s more than 13 times cheaper.
It doesn’t replace everything. Bloomberg still wins on real-time trading data and deep institutional licensing. For research, tearsheets and comps, the math just changed for everyone who isn’t a top-tier fund.
“I want to know about asset swaps and Treasury bid-ask spreads, and quitting the markets, and investment grade.”Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorganChase, on what he asked Claude Code
He said it built a big dashboard in about 20 minutes over a weekend, "with all the backup, and all the research, and it was very accurate about what I wanted." (Fortune)
You don’t need to work in finance for any of this. Pick the one that matches your job.
01
Build a 3-statement model from a 10-K
For anyone who lives in Excel. Install the Claude add-in from Microsoft AppSource on a paid plan (setup). Download a public company’s 10-K from SEC EDGAR, attach it in the Claude sidebar and paste this. The add-in shares context with PowerPoint, so you can then ask for a summary deck from the same model.
02
Run a company tearsheet
For anyone who does client research. In Perplexity Computer, run the Company Tearsheet workflow, or paste this for any public company. You get a one-page overview with citations you can export as a PDF.
03
Draft a pitch with the Pitch agent
For anyone who builds decks. In Claude, open the plugins page (Customize, then Plugins, or just Plugins on newer accounts), add a plugin and paste https://github.com/anthropics/financial-services. Pick the Pitch agent from the list. Then give it a ticker with this prompt. The last paragraph is the trick, because it forces Claude to flag where it’s guessing.
Honest Limitations
Most premium data still needs a license. Both tools give you the workflow, but you may need your own Morningstar, PitchBook or FactSet seat to plug in real data. Anthropic says the Excel add-in isn’t meant for final client deliverables or audit-critical math without a human checking it, and you should only use it on spreadsheets you trust.
The barrier to using AI at your 9-to-5 just dropped to almost zero, because Claude lives inside Excel, Word and PowerPoint now. Be the AI person on your team before everyone else catches up.