Subvolts take Atlassian's CEO shares real data on AI coding tool effectiveness for developers. Jan 20, 2026 - Developers
- Learn how AI tools are being tested and used by a major software company to boost productivity.
- Business
- Understand the real-world impact and evaluation of AI on developer workflows and business efficiency.
This episode features a CEO of a major software company discussing practical AI tool adoption and its impact on developer jobs.
What a $42B Software Co. Really Spends on AI Tools
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From Subvolts
Summary and analysis by Subvolts editorial, AI-assisted.
Lukas Biewald hosts Mike Cannon-Brookes, Co-Founder and CEO of Atlassian, on Gradient Dissent to discuss AI's impact on software development. They explore Atlassian's extensive testing of AI coding tools like GitHub Copilot, Cursor, and Claude Code. The conversation covers data from their internal studies on AI productivity and its implications for the future of developer jobs.
This episode features the CEO of Atlassian, a big software company. He talks about how his company tested many AI tools that help programmers write code faster. It's interesting because it shows how AI is changing jobs for people who build software.
This episode offers practical insights into how a large software company, Atlassian, is integrating and evaluating AI coding tools. It's for developers and business leaders interested in real-world AI productivity gains and the future of dev roles. The discussion aligns with frontier labs like OpenAI, Google Gemini, and Anthropic as they focus on enterprise adoption and improving developer workflows with their models.
- HostLukas Biewald
- GuestMike Cannon-BrookesCo-Founder & CEO, Atlassian
- Guest: Mike Cannon-Brookes, Co-Founder & CEO of Atlassian
- Show: Gradient Dissent
- Length: 68 minutes
- Atlassian Engineers Testing AI: 10,000+
- AI Tools Mentioned: GitHub Copilot, Cursor, Claude Code
“I don't worry about being replaced by AI. I worry about being replaced by someone who's really good at using AI.”
Atlassian has 10,000+ engineers currently split-testing the world’s top AI coding tools, from GitHub Copilot and Cursor to Claude Code.
In this episode, Co-Founder & CEO Mike Cannon-Brookes joins Lukas Biewald to share what their data reveals about the world's best AI tools today.
Hear how 24 years of building a tech giant and a massive internal study on AI productivity have shaped Mike's vision for the future of dev jobs.
Connect with us here:
Mike Cannon-Brookes: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mcannonbrookes/?originalSubdomain=au
Atlassian: https://www.linkedin.com/company/atlassian/?viewAsMember=true
Lukas Biewald: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lbiewald/
Weights & Biases: https://www.linkedin.com/company/wandb/
00:00 Trailer
01:08 Introduction
03:11 Connecting Technology and Business Teams
07:22 The Impact of AI on Business Workflows
13:26 Developer Productivity and AI
21:03 Measuring Developer Efficiency
25:41 Future of AI in Development
34:59 Legacy Technology and Code Changes
39:29 AI's Role in Developer Productivity
47:40 AI and Junior Developers
52:30 Product-Led Growth and Business Strategy
01:00:29 Core Metrics for Sustainable Growth
01:06:56 Staying Creative in the Tech Industry
- AI coding tools
- Mike Cannon-Brookes
- Software that uses artificial intelligence to help programmers write computer code.
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Questions people ask
- What AI coding tools did Atlassian test?
- Atlassian tested top AI coding tools including GitHub Copilot, Cursor, and Claude Code.
- What is Atlassian's perspective on AI replacing developers?
- Mike Cannon-Brookes believes the concern is not being replaced by AI, but by someone skilled at using AI.
Page generated Oct 19, 2026. Summaries are Subvolts' own; the audio, artwork and notes belong to Lukas Biewald.