Mike Cannon-Brookes

Mike Cannon-Brookes co-founded Atlassian in Sydney in 2002 with Scott Farquhar, building it into a global enterprise software company behind Jira and Confluence. He has served as co-CEO since the company's founding and is one of Australia's wealthiest technology executives, with a public profile spanning corporate strategy and climate activism.

Cannon-Brookes disclosed on 11 March 2026 that Atlassian was cutting 1,600 jobs, roughly 10% of its workforce, to "self-fund" investment in AI and enterprise sales. The restructuring carries charges of $225-236 million. Forty per cent of cuts fell in North America, 30% in Australia and 16% in India. Shares rose approximately 2% on the news. Rajeev Rajan, Atlassian's departing CTO, will leave on 31 March, with his responsibilities split between two executives .

The layoffs crystallise a tension at the heart of enterprise software in 2026: AI investment demands capital reallocation at a pace that leaves human headcount as the variable. Cannon-Brookes framed the cuts as self-funding rather than cost-reduction, but for 1,600 employees the distinction is academic. How he manages the productivity claims against the human toll will define Atlassian's reputation through this cycle.