Mike Cannon-Brookes, co-founder of Atlassian, has announced significant job cuts, with over 1,600 positions being eliminated as the company adapts to advancements in artificial intelligence that are transforming the job landscape.
Cannon-Brookes highlighted that AI has altered the “mix of skills we need” and the “number of roles required in certain areas,” prompting the company to reassess its workforce needs.
Approximately 30% of those affected by the layoffs are located in Australia, reflecting the global impact of these changes.
Atlassian’s stock has experienced a sharp decline, dropping 50% since early 2026 and plummeting 66% compared to the previous year. This decline is fueled by investor concerns that artificial intelligence may reduce corporate workforces, thereby decreasing the demand for workplace software.
In 2021, amid the tech surge driven by the COVID-19-induced work-from-home movement, Atlassian’s valuation skyrocketed to a remarkable US$162 billion. However, its market capitalization has since fallen to approximately US$19.90 billion.
The company’s revenue model relies heavily on charging businesses based on the number of users, which has made it vulnerable to the evolving AI landscape.
If businesses can use AI to do the work of 10 employees with just two staff, they may only need two licences instead of 10, potentially slashing revenue from that customer by up to 80 per cent.
Newer AI agents can also complete multi-step tasks such as researching a problem, writing code to solve it, testing the result and refining it without constant human input.
Atlassian billionaire Mike Cannon-Brookes (pictured) has slashed more than 1,600 jobs as artificial intelligence reshapes the workforce
Annie Cannon-Brookes and Mike Cannon-Brookes in happier times
Investors fear that if AI allows large companies to operate with smaller teams, demand for many workplace software products such as those offered by Atlassian could slow across the tech sector, dragging down company valuations.
As his company faces growing market pressure, Cannon-Brookes is also navigating a complex divorce from his ex-wife Annie after they split in July 2023.
Beyond Atlassian shares, the couple’s reported asset pool totals about $10 billion, including a property portfolio valued at roughly $360 million.
Some of those holdings include high-profile sporting investments. Cannon-Brookes became the youngest current owner of a US NBA franchise in 2020 after spending hundreds of millions to become co-owner of the Utah Jazz.
In 2021, he also acquired a 25 per cent stake in NRL club the South Sydney Rabbitohs.
Neither Cannon-Brookes nor his wife have publicly commented on the breakdown of their relationship or how their shared investments will ultimately be divided.
Despite the market and marriage turmoil, Cannon-Brookes insisted Atlassian was building a “f****** great business” during a quarterly earnings investor meeting earlier this year.
Atlassian shares have hit a record low this year
Mike Cannon-Brookes and his wife Annie married in 2010 and went on to have four children together before their divorce
But in the month leading up to the results, he continued selling roughly 7,665 shares a day, at prices ranging from US$161.11 per share on January 8 to US$105.14 by February 4.
‘I’m convinced AI is great for Atlassian. Others think software is dead,’ Cannon-Brookes told shareholders.
‘In this environment it seems that noise swamps signal, nuance gets lost.
‘AI is the most important technology of our generation.
‘And you’ve heard me say AI is the best thing to happen to Atlassian. At the same time you’ve probably heard a lot of people say SaaS (software-as-a-service) is over, and software is dead.
‘Well I want to take the opportunity to share a few thoughts about why AI is great for Atlassian… For most people AI becomes most valuable when it shows up inside the workflows, business processes and applications that they run their business on, or choose to run their business on, and that’s exactly what we’re doing today.’
Last month, Atlassian has paused hiring across engineering roles, with some candidates saying offers were withdrawn and others claiming communication stopped entirely.
‘Got an engineering offer … After three weeks of silence I finally messaged the hiring manager on LinkedIn. They told me it’s a hiring freezing,’ one person posted on employee forum Blind.
‘Same, my interview in 6 hours was just cancelled and all I was told was the position is no longer available. Very frustrating as I’ve been prepping for weeks,’ another post from last week reads.
