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What a $42B Software Co. Really Spends on AI Tools

January 20, 2026 · 1 h 8 min

Show notes

“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

All episodes of Gradient Dissent: Conversations on AI

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