The launch of Anthropic’s Cowork tool has sent shockwaves through the software sector, causing Atlassian’s share price to tumble by 16% as investors weigh the threat of AI-driven disruption. Unlike traditional tools, Cowork allows non-technical users to perform complex tasks—such as building presentations or organising files—using plain English prompts, a trend dubbed “vibe coding“. This shift towards autonomous AI agents threatens the core business models of legacy software giants like Salesforce, ServiceNow, and SAP by potentially making their specialised interfaces redundant.
In the article, Anthropic’s latest tool sends shockwaves through Atlassian, software stocks, Dr Joe Sweeney warns that products like Claude Code are evolving beyond simple coding assistants to become “co-managers of development”. His advice to legacy providers is clear: they must integrate deeply with these new AI-led approaches or risk having their capabilities carved out by more agile AI rivals. Specifically for Atlassian, Dr Sweeney suggests the company must transition from merely managing human workflows via tools like Jira to governing AI-powered development. This evolution will require structural changes to business models to ensure they remain relevant in a landscape shifting from human-driven to agent-driven development.
