AI was meant to replace software developers. It's creating more instead.
Atlassian shares rose significantly after the company reported that AI is driving demand for its software tools rather than replacing developers. The company suggests that AI is lowering the cost of building technology, leading to an overall increase in software development roles.
Why it matters
This trend challenges the prevailing narrative that AI will cause mass displacement in the tech sector, suggesting instead that it may expand the industry's total output.
Mike Cannon-Brookes, cofounder and chief executive of Atlassian. Bloomberg/Getty Images Atlassian shares surged 35% Friday as AI drives revenue growth and expands software developer roles. AI is expanding tech roles, boosting demand for Atlassian's Jira and Confluence. Atlassian sees non-developers using its tools, showing AI's role in more people creating software. One of the biggest fears about AI was that it would kill tech jobs and shrink the software industry . The logic seemed straightforward. If AI made developers much more productive, tech companies would need fewer of them. That would mean fewer software subscriptions, known as "seats," because each worker typically has their own account. Investors also worried that AI coding tools would enable companies to build more of their own software rather than buy it from established vendors.
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