Atlassian’s AI Surprise: More Software Developers, Not Fewer

One of many largest fears about AI was that it will kill tech jobs and shrink the software industry.

The logic appeared simple. If AI made builders way more productive, tech corporations would wish fewer of them. That might imply fewer software subscriptions, known as “seats,” as a result of every employee sometimes has their very own account.

Buyers additionally nervous that AI coding tools would allow corporations to construct extra of their very own software program quite than purchase it from established distributors.

The software giant Atlassian sat proper in the best way of those buzzsaws as a result of it sells instruments that assist groups set up work, collaborate, and construct software program. That drove the inventory down greater than 50% within the first few months of 2026.

Now, the image seems very completely different.

Atlassian shares jumped 35% on Friday after the corporate reported surging income, helped by development in seats for its fundamental Jira and Confluence merchandise.

That implies that AI is creating extra roles for software program builders, quite than killing tech jobs.

“There’s going to be extra builders on the planet in 5 years’ time than there are at present,” Atlassian CEO and cofounder Mike Cannon-Brookes stated after the outcomes. “Developer hiring will proceed to develop.”

“The price of constructing know-how goes down. The quantity of know-how we’ll construct goes to go up,” he added. “These are the indicators we see in our clients. The power to develop that’s big.”

This jogs my memory of one thing Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang stated just a few years in the past. He predicted AI would make writing software program a lot simpler, opening this ability to many extra folks.

“The programming language is human; all people on the planet is now a programmer,” he stated.

Atlassian is seeing this occur throughout its company clients. The corporate stated seat development wasn’t simply coming from software program builders. Roughly two-thirds of Jira and Confluence customers are actually in roles resembling human sources, finance, and authorized.

“The variety of folks constructing know-how that we do not essentially name builders can be rising,” Cannon-Brookes stated.

In different phrases, AI will not be changing builders. As a substitute, it seems to be increasing who will get to construct software program.

If that is proper, the long-feared collapse in software program jobs and subscriptions could by no means arrive. As a substitute, AI might create a a lot bigger pool of individuals constructing know-how, and a fair larger marketplace for corporations like Atlassian.

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