Most companies think connection is built in the office. Atlassian discovered the opposite. 

In this episode, I’m joined by Avani Prabhakar, Chief People Officer at Atlassian. Avani takes us inside Atlassian’s Team Anywhere model, which has redefined how 13,000 people across the globe work together. 

We unpack what really drives connection, how to structure your workday to avoid Zoom fatigue, and why Atlassian ditched PowerPoint altogether. If you’ve ever wondered what the future of work actually looks like in practice, this is a rare behind-the-scenes look. 

Avani and I discuss: 

• The difference between “remote first” and “distributed first” work 

• Why connection doesn’t come from sporadic office attendance 

• Atlassian’s framework for intentional togetherness (ITG) 

• How to design your workday to balance meetings, deep work, and collaboration 

• Why Atlassian banned PowerPoint and moved to a written-first culture 

• How asynchronous communication transformed decision-making 

• The role of AI agents in HR and how non-technical teams built their own tools 

• The four stages of becoming a strategic AI user 

• Avani’s predictions for the future of work: asynchronous by default, AI collaboration, and focusing on how we work rather than where 

Key Quotes 

“Connection wasn’t built by sporadic office attendance. Real connection happens when you intentionally bring people together with a purpose.” 

“The future of work won’t be about where we work. It will be about how we work.”  

Connect with Avani on LinkedIn.