CIO Insight: Business Continuity Lessons From Anthropic Claude Outage

Welcome to this AI Agent & Copilot Podcast, where we analyze the opportunities, impact, and outcomes that are possible with AI.

In this episode, I speak with Kenny Mullican about this week’s outage impacting Anthropic and several of its Claude AI tools, and how CIOs can manage through such business continuity issues.

Highlights

Current Claude Usage and Impact (1:45)

Mullican explains his use of Claude tools — including Claude Code, Claude Web, and the Claude desktop app — in daily work. The outage resulted in difficulty in accessing tools and the need to switch to other platforms like ChatGPT and Google Gemini; it highlighted the importance of having backup plans and continuity plans for such outages. He discusses the challenges of switching to other tools given the nuances of each platform.

Outage Response (3:21)

The outage details were available on the Claude status page. The biggest concern was whether the outage would have a long duration and therefore have significant impact on Mullican’s work and that of his team. In a sustained outage, they would need to consider use of other tools including ChatGPT and Gemini. Fortunately the outage was brief but it required monitoring the status page for updates.

Backup Plans and Continuity (6:07)

Mullican emphasizes the importance of having backup plans for critical tools like Claude, comparing the reliance on Claude to the reliance on Microsoft’s Exchange platform for email. He emphasizes the need for workarounds, especially if extended outages impacted business operations.

He provides examples of agent-driven workflows that rely on Claude tools at his company, which has used Claude to diagnose and resolve issues with SQL server performance and Microsoft Fabric capacity. He notes the efficiency and effectiveness of Claude in handling complex task and compares the old method of troubleshooting with the new method using Claude, emphasizing the time and effort saved.

CIO Recommendations (11:43)

Mullican notes the importance of not putting all eggs in one basket and ensuring portability of workflows when it comes to AI tools. He calls out the potential risks of relying on a single platform and the need for backup plans. He concludes by highlighting the integral role of AI tools in modern workflows and the need for robust continuity plans.

More Kenny Mullican Insights:

• Governed Diversity Means Supporting a Portfolio of Specialized AI Tools
• How AI ‘Collapses the Feedback Loop’ in Software Development
• Copilot’s Advantage vs. Stand-Alone Chatbots: It Operates Inside Enterprise Workflows

AI Agent & Copilot Summit is an AI-first event to define opportunities, impact, and outcomes with Microsoft Copilot and agents. Building on its 2025 success, the 2026 event takes place March 17-19 in San Diego. Get more details.