‘I’m sorry’: CEO slashes jobs as Atlassian embraces AI

The Australian CEO of a top software giant has apologized after cutting its global workforce by 10 per cent.

In a message to staff, Atlassian CEO Mike Cannon-Brookes said the decision to cut 1,600 jobs was incredibly difficult as staff had to wait for an email letting them know whether they were on the list.

“I believe this is the right decision for Atlassian. But that doesn’t mean it’s easy. Far from it,” he said, according to documents filed with the US exchange. “I know this has had a huge impact on each of you, and it places a heavy burden on me and Atlassian today.

“To the Atlassians who abandoned us, I’m sorry for the impact this will have on you.”

The decision was taken amid the increasing adoption of artificial intelligence.

“This is primarily about adaptation. We are reshaping our skills mix and changing the way we work to build for the future,” Mr Cannon-Brookes said.

Atlassian employs approximately 14,500 people in 14 countries around the world, including Australia.

In February, the Sydney-based software company reported revenue of US$1.6 billion ($A2.3 billion) for the three months to December 31, up 23 per cent on the previous year and above expectations.

However, its net loss in the second quarter widened to US$42.6 million ($61 million), up from US$38.2 million ($54.7 million) a year earlier.

Atlassian creates a suite of cloud-based collaboration tools used for software development and project management, including Jira and Trello.