Atlassian makes $1.5bn bet on AI and productivity, snapping up Utah tech firm
After its founders lost a combined $19bn from their personal fortunes, Atlassian has wagered $1.51bn on a company promising to solve tech's biggest AI challenge.
Atlassian has made its biggest acquisition, snapping up Utah-based “developer intelligence” firm DX for $US1bn ($1.51bn) as it makes a bold bet on turbocharging productivity.
The company announced late on Thursday night that the deal will be made in cash and restricted stock. It follows Atlassian acquiring The Browser Company of New York, the innovators behind the Dia and Arc browsers, for about $US610m earlier this month to take on web browser behemoths Google, Microsoft and Apple.
Atlassian co-founders Mike Cannon-Brookes and Scott Farquhar have also lost a combined $19bn from their fortunes in the past six months after the software firm’s share price fell 22 per cent, sending them tumbling down the list of Australia’s wealthiest people, according to The List, Australia’s Richest 250.
In acquiring DX, Atlassian has made a decisive and expensive wager as artificial intelligence investments have often outpaced demonstrable returns for many tech titans. But Mr Cannon-Brookes said the core problem was “using AI is easy, creating value is harder”.
“AI is transforming how software teams work. This creates both incredible potential and a whole new set of questions I hear enterprise customers ask all the time. How do I know if my engineering teams are productive? Where should I be putting my AI dollars? And how do we measure the ROI of our AI investments?” Mr Cannon-Brookes said.
“Being able to answer these questions is going to be massive. It’ll make organisations more competitive, give them more clarity for decision making, and help them run faster. And this is where DX comes in.”
DX specialises in providing granular insights into developer productivity, offering tools to measure, benchmark, and ultimately improve the effectiveness of engineering teams. Its platform delves beyond anecdotal improvements, providing data-driven visibility into how AI tools are impacting workflows, identifying bottlenecks, and quantifying efficiency gains.
The transaction underscores a growing consensus among tech leaders that the next frontier in AI isn’t merely in its deployment, but in its optimisation. Companies have eagerly adopted AI-powered code assistants, automated testing, and intelligent debugging. But without a clear mechanism to measure the downstream effects on overall engineering output, these investments risk becoming costly experiments rather than strategic advantages.
Mr Cannon-Brookes said by integrating DX into Atlassian’s “System of Work” – which includes tools like Jira, Bitbucket, and Compass – the combined entity aims to offer enterprises an unparalleled holistic view of their engineering operations and the true impact of their AI investments.
“What makes DX intelligence platform unique is they don’t just measure what’s happening in the software lifecycle. They help you understand why they’re powering forward,” Mr Cannon-Brookes said.
“Atlassian and DX will give organisations what they’ve been missing, true visibility into developer productivity and experience, with insight into how AI is really moving the needle.
“For developers it means less friction and more flow. For leaders, it means more confidence in their investments.”
DX chief executive Abi Noda founded the company five years ago on the belief that “measuring developer productivity and experience was an unsolved problem that requires a research-driven approach”.
“Combining our data intelligence with Atlassian’s AI-powered tools, we can provide customers with unmatched understanding, solutions and feedback to accelerate developer productivity.”
The $US1bn price tag reflects the high premium Atlassian places on this “engineering intelligence.” It’s a bet that the market for quantifying AI’s impact will grow exponentially, particularly as enterprises move beyond initial AI pilots to large-scale deployments.
But Atlassian chief technology officer Rajeev Rajan emphasised the human element of this strategic move.
“We’ve built a world-class engineering organization at Atlassian with developer joy at the core because we know happy developers are more productive and creative, translating to better products and greater value for customers,” Mr Rajan said.
“DX gives engineering leaders a clear view across R&D – showing not just what’s getting done, but how teams feel about it – at a time when AI is transforming developers’ roles and deep understanding has never mattered more.”
The deal is expected to close in the second quarter of Atlassian’s fiscal year 2026, subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals.
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