Introduction
Welcome to another episode of TJ’s Technology Tuesday and Digital 4 Productivity. Last week we focused a little more intensively on the topic of programming with AI, and Claude was a major part of that discussion. What has happened since then? In the meantime — you may have heard — something was announced: Anthropic teamed up with Goldman Sachs, Blackstone, and others in a venture, with the idea that they can integrate Anthropic’s AI more deeply into the portfolio companies of those respective organisations.
Here he is — Amodei, a former employee of OpenAI, now running Anthropic itself, with a clear focus on enterprise customers. And you can see that in this news as well: they have joined forces specifically to do even more in the corporate space. That is also exactly the main emphasis.
OpenAI, ChatGPT or Copilot?
OpenAI, ChatGPT — still market-leading, dominant in the consumer segment. I see this in private circles too. It is simply what people started with, what many people know, and we are creatures of habit. So people tend to stick with what they know. I myself am a bigger fan, on the one hand, of Copilot, because it is very, very well integrated into the Microsoft 365 world.
That means: if you work with Microsoft 365, Copilot is always the first option. What is interesting is that Microsoft also has a smart strategy — they say: we do not build our own AI models; instead, we integrate the leading AI models. And just as the change occurred where Anthropic is now strengthening its ties with Goldman Sachs and Blackstone — Blackstone as a private equity partner — you may also have noticed that Microsoft and OpenAI are becoming somewhat less tightly coupled. In other words, Microsoft is now open to other models as well. One thing you may even have seen yourself: you now have the option within Microsoft 365 to select Anthropic models.
Anthropic Arrives in Microsoft 365
These can be configured away — and this is very, very important — because with the current implementation, Microsoft routes Anthropic model requests to the United States. That is why it is not enabled by default. You can, however, activate it manually. The integration in Microsoft 365 becomes particularly noticeable when you use the add-ins for PowerPoint and Excel.
There is already a significant performance gap between what Microsoft achieves with Copilot and what Anthropic delivers.
Is Claude by Anthropic Stronger than Copilot in the Microsoft 365 Environment?
It will be interesting to see whether Microsoft eventually takes the next logical step. In my view, the next logical step would be to say: I drop my own Copilot add-ins and use Claude’s from Anthropic instead.
There is also the question around Co-Work — I showed this in a recent episode — the idea being that the intelligent logic of Co-Work, where I can work with files on my local computer, would also be integrated into Microsoft 365. That would be a great next step. Everything happening with Microsoft right now is pointing toward the USA, which is why you should think very carefully — and above all configure very precisely — which information can be entered there and which information can be retrieved.
What Price Tiers Are Available?
Compliance is of course an extremely important topic here. Let us take another look at the subject of Anthropic for the Enterprise. I have put together a table for you so we can go through it together. I asked Claude to compare all its pricing tiers — individual, Teams, Enterprise. So there are several tiers to consider.
On the Claude side, there is Claude for individuals, Claude for Teams, and Enterprise. They differ both in price and in functionality. The key distinction is that with Teams or Enterprise plans you can ensure that hosting takes place on Amazon servers in Frankfurt. So, similar to what you know from Microsoft 365 — currently the Anthropic integration in M365 is such that the servers are not in Frankfurt. I hope Microsoft will update that, so you will eventually have the option to run it on European servers.
That would make it much more useful. As much as I am a fan of Copilot — as soon as I work with Excel or PowerPoint, Claude is simply far more powerful. Let us look at the different tiers in comparison. For that I can highly recommend Perplexity by the way. Where I used to Google things, I now very much enjoy working with Perplexity.
And here you can see it in a tabular comparison — you can present the differences beautifully in a table. So: Free for individuals, you can use it at no cost. However, you can only use it in the web app, which makes it primarily suited for personal users doing initial tests. Things get interesting with the Pro version starting at $20 per month. Here you have five times higher usage limits and — note the target audience: power users, solo professionals — you also gain access to the desktop application.
The application is the Claude desktop program, through which you can use Claude Co-Work and Claude Code. That means a lot more capability. The performance scales up by a factor of five and by a factor of twenty. I currently have the Max 5 plan — where is it — which costs me around $80 or $90 per month, giving me five times higher usage with the same features as the $15 tier.
So let me switch back here. I have the Max plan, currently at $90, giving me up to 20 times more usage than Pro in that tier. You can adjust this in the settings and say: how much do I want? Do I want five times more, or do I want twenty times more? I currently have the five-times option.
How Much Does Teams for Enterprise Cost?
So there is a two-step mechanism here where you can make that choice. When you move into Teams for Enterprise, you have Standard and Premium tiers with higher usage limits — and the Enterprise tier is naturally the most flexible option of all. Let us look at the comparison table again. Looking at the additional versions, you can see Max 5 and Max 20. That brings us into the Teams and Enterprise range.
Teams Standard is aimed at businesses, at around $20 to $25 per seat per year. Here you get team features and centralised billing. You can also share content within the team — similar to what you know from the ChatGPT Teams variant, or of course from M365 for smaller to medium-sized teams. Then there is Teams Premium, with higher usage limits on the same basis. And at the Enterprise level you pay per seat or as a flat rate, depending on the size of your organisation.
And here you also have the option to define server locations very precisely. The default principle is that Anthropic is hosted in the US. By default, however, your data is not used for training the models. That said, you should always check whether this has actually been configured correctly in your account. So let us have another look inside Anthropic.
How to Turn Off “Help Claude Improve Claude”
So when I go back out here, there are the Settings, and in the Settings — yes, exactly, let us go in there. So there we are. I go into the settings. There you have the privacy toggles, and you should make sure that location metadata is not being transmitted and that the checkbox “Help Claude improve Claude” is not enabled. That is a really important point.
And what is quite cool — even when I am working in the application, let me drag it over onto the screen so you can see it too. In the application, I have the option to have chats. I can work alongside the chat. In Co-Work, for example, I do things like my daily briefing. I can go into the Code section.
Working Only with Data in a Specific Folder
The great thing is that when I am working on things here, I can always choose a folder. That means I can always specify which folder this tool should work in. I can add a folder here, and the system then works only with the files in that specific folder. Always with the note: yes, processing happens on the servers of Claude. So in that respect, data is being transferred as well.
What Does Claude Offer in the Enterprise Space?
This applies in the Enterprise space as well, by the way. Claude does not offer a fully local installation on your own machine — the workload would simply be too demanding for that. Here I am back in the browser by the way. There you can see that in the browser you only have the chat option, the so-called Artifacts, and Claude Design.
So here too, just to be clear: Claude Design is not available in the desktop application — not even in the paid version. In the application, however, you additionally get Claude Code and Claude Co-Work, and instead of just normal Artifacts you also get Live Artifacts. This means I can build small things — little applications. Artifacts means I have something created once, while Live Artifacts means the whole thing is updated on an ongoing basis.
So here, for example, you can see: I have content here that I want, and the idea is a little like the writing features from ChatGPT — on the left I always have a brief, on the right I have the corresponding output that I can adjust. And I can do this as a one-off. Or when I go into the application — let me do that now — and I go into Co-Work, then I have the so-called Live Artifacts. So I could say there, for example, I would like something like an inbox triage.
It offers that to you, and whenever something updates, you always have the current version. These are mini-apps that also update continuously. For some people, this could even be an alternative to building apps with Lovable, which we looked at last time. My experience, though, is that they are still quite limited. For example, with the email triage it suggests by default, I tried asking it to add a function that lets me delete emails too.
Can Using AI Be Dangerous?
And it said: I do not have access to that. But that also has a big advantage. You will recall that last week I talked about Open Cloud, where I said: the more powerful a tool is, the more access it has, the more dangerous it becomes. So you should always weigh up what is possible against what should not be possible. Overall, Claude — as I said — especially in the business space, you can tell they have a business focus.
There is no video creation feature, no flashy image-generation functions.
Instead, what it does: if I am in Claude Code, for example, and I want to generate videos or images, it asks for the API credentials of other services such as Nano Banana, for instance. All of those can be integrated. And the model is extremely strong when it comes to text. When it is about formulating texts, editing texts, having things summarised — I just had a cheat sheet made for a Power Automate training, for example. Those are the areas where I want it to shine.
It naturally helps to know what variables are, what an array is, what a for-each loop is. And the better the briefing, the better the result. What is also interesting about Claude is the ability to be very, very well suited for programming as well. And for those who say Claude Code is too cumbersome, you can of course use Claude Code within development environments, or as discussed last time, within Lovable — in a very manageable format. And the great advantage is the focus on business, focus on work, on programming, and with the Teams or Business version the ability to say: server location is Frankfurt, and processing location too.
Conclusion
So please do not let your IT department talk you out of it by saying cloud is the work of the devil. You now have two options: either you use the Teams or Enterprise plans directly from Claude itself, or you use it through the Microsoft 365 integration in conjunction with Purview — Microsoft’s compliance component. And I assume that in the near future Microsoft will also make it possible to choose Frankfurt as the server location for Claude, just as you can with Microsoft 365. I will always be happy to keep you up to date on that.
If you need consulting, training, or sparring as a managing director, that is my core business. As a personal coach for executives, I am your sparring partner — so that you avoid costly wrong decisions and lengthy detours, and instead reach your future investment quickly, at the best value and the best price. If you need support with that, I look forward to hearing from you.
Until next time, all the best — your Thorsten Jekel.
Key Takeaways
- Claude by Anthropic has a clear focus on enterprise customers and corporate use, as demonstrated by the partnership with Goldman Sachs and Blackstone.
- For Microsoft 365 users, Copilot remains the first choice, but Claude shows a clear performance advantage with the PowerPoint and Excel add-ins.
- Anthropic models can now be activated in Microsoft 365, but are disabled by default because data currently routes through US servers.
- Claude offers four pricing tiers: Free, Pro (from $20/month), Max (5x or 20x more usage), and Teams and Enterprise with centralised billing and a selectable Frankfurt server location.
- In the Teams and Enterprise tiers you can ensure that hosting takes place on Amazon servers in Frankfurt (EU) — which is important for compliance.
- In the privacy settings you should disable “Help Claude improve Claude” as well as the transmission of location metadata.
- The Claude desktop app additionally enables Claude Code and Claude Co-Work; these features are absent in the browser, which instead offers Claude Design.
- Live Artifacts in Co-Work are mini-apps that update continuously and can serve as a simple alternative to tools like Lovable.
- Claude is particularly strong for text, programming, and business applications; image and video creation is not natively integrated but is possible via external API services.
- The better your briefing (prompt), the better the result — basic knowledge of variables, arrays, and loops significantly improves output quality.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Claude by Anthropic particularly suited for?
According to Thorsten Jekel, Claude is designed primarily for the business space. The model excels at text creation, programming, and structured workflows, while features such as image or video generation are deliberately not integrated.
What is the difference between Claude Free, Pro, and Max?
The Free version allows basic usage exclusively in the web app. Pro costs from $20 per month and offers five times higher limits plus access to the desktop app. Max comes in two tiers (5x or 20x more usage than Pro) and costs approximately $90 per month for the 5x option.
What are the advantages of the Claude Teams or Enterprise plan?
The Teams plan (from around $20–25 per seat/year) provides centralised billing and the ability to share content within the team. The Enterprise plan additionally allows precise definition of server locations, so that hosting on EU servers in Frankfurt can be guaranteed.
Can I use Claude within Microsoft 365?
Yes, Anthropic models can be activated in Microsoft 365, but they are disabled by default. The reason: processing currently runs via US servers, not through the EU location in Frankfurt. Anyone using the integration should review this carefully from a compliance perspective.
Where is Claude more powerful than Microsoft Copilot?
According to Thorsten Jekel, the most significant performance gap appears with the add-ins for PowerPoint and Excel, where Claude clearly outperforms Copilot. For general Microsoft 365 tasks, Copilot remains the first choice because of its deep integration.
How do I turn off the training data usage in Claude?
In the Claude settings under Privacy, you should uncheck “Help Claude improve Claude” and disable the transmission of location metadata. This ensures that your own content is not used to train the model.
What is Claude Co-Work and what can it do?
Claude Co-Work is a feature of the desktop app that lets you work with files on your local computer. It enables things like daily briefings and Live Artifacts — mini-apps that update continuously. Data processing happens on Anthropic’s cloud servers.
What is the difference between Artifacts and Live Artifacts?
Regular Artifacts are one-off created pieces of content or small applications, available in both the web app and the desktop app. Live Artifacts, which are only available in the desktop app via Co-Work, update on a regular basis and behave like dynamic mini-apps.
Can Claude Code be used without deep programming knowledge?
Yes, Claude Code can also be used within development environments or tools like Lovable that provide a manageable framework. Basic knowledge of variables, arrays, and loops is helpful, however, since a precise briefing significantly improves the quality of the results.
Why is the data server location so important for businesses?
For companies, the server location is decisive for data protection and compliance reasons. In the Claude Teams and Enterprise plans, the Frankfurt (EU) location can be specified; in the Microsoft 365 integration this is not yet possible, but according to Thorsten Jekel it should be coming in the future.
Tools & Resources Mentioned
- Claude by Anthropic – AI assistant with a business focus for text, code, and structured work
- Microsoft 365 Copilot – AI integration in Microsoft 365, deeply embedded in Office apps
- Perplexity – AI-powered search engine, recommended by the author as a Google alternative
- Lovable – tool for building apps with Claude Code in a manageable format
- Microsoft Purview – Microsoft’s compliance component, relevant for the secure use of Claude in M365
