What it had to solve
Atlassian is the Official Title and Technology Partner for Williams. It wanted campaign creative that showed the depth of that technology partnership at every touchpoint — from a brand film down to in-product innovations customers can actually use.
The idea
A dark liminal space where Williams' know-how passes between team members as spotlights before rain hits — and five real Williams specialists packaged as AI agents.
How it works
Directing duo StillKidz and creative studio Strike Anywhere filmed a stylised reimagining of the moment rain enters an F1 race, with knowledge passing between team members as spotlights and cameos from championship-era Williams cars. Production split between a Barcelona sound stage during the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix and Williams HQ in Grove, Oxfordshire, shot on film stock including 16mm with practical and 3D trackside recreations. Alongside the film, Atlassian turned five Williams team members — drivers, performance engineers, strategists and mechanics — into AI agents capturing their real craft, announced through a mini-docuseries profiling them. The campaign runs October to December 2026 with a premium NYT and The Athletic partnership, plus LinkedIn, YouTube, Google Demand Gen, X, OOH and activations at Team Europe, Web Summit and with Uber.
What it did
Launched in October 2026 as a film, a five-agent AI pack and a docuseries, running through December 2026 across NYT, The Athletic, social, OOH and live events. No performance results have been reported yet.
Background
When rain falls on an F1 track at 200+ mph, the pit call that follows is not luck — it is decades of collective judgement arriving at the exact moment it is needed. Atlassian, the Official Title and Technology Partner for Williams, built its latest campaign around that idea: the film follows the team through a darkened liminal space as knowledge passes between members in the form of spotlights, racing to adapt strategy before the first raindrop reaches the track.
Directed by Barcelona-based duo StillKidz with creative studio Strike Anywhere, the shoot split between a sound stage in Barcelona during the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix and Williams HQ in Grove, Oxfordshire, using film stock including digicam and 16mm and mixing practical sets with 3D recreations of trackside elements and car rigs. Long-time fans get cameos from iconic cars and faces of Williams' championship past.
The campaign goes beyond film: Atlassian turned five members of the Williams race team into AI agents, capturing the actual craft of real drivers, performance engineers, strategists and mechanics so any team can tap the secrets of F1 teamwork, and announced the pack with a mini-docuseries profiling the people behind the data.
Running October to December 2026 with a premium media partnership with the New York Times and The Athletic, plus LinkedIn, YouTube, Google Demand Gen, X, OOH and in-person activations, the work is Atlassian ECD Luke Martin's case that 'teams run on context, and Atlassian connects the two.'
Why it lands
Formula 1 pit calls are the most watched teamwork decisions in sport — the perfect dramatization for a company whose product is team memory and context.
Atlassian's sponsorship is a technology partnership, so the campaign had to demonstrate real product substance, not just logo placement on a car.
Turning five real Williams specialists into AI agents converts brand advertising into something customers can install and use.
Shooting during the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix weekend let a limited window double as authenticity: the film was made at racing pace.
What you can take
A sponsorship earns its fee when the brand dramatizes the moment the partner's expertise matters — and productizes it so customers touch the substance, not just the badge.
Since then
The campaign launched in October 2026 and is set to run through December across the NYT and The Athletic partnership, LinkedIn, YouTube, Google Demand Gen, X, OOH and events including Atlassian's Team Europe event, Web Summit and an activation with Uber. No audience or performance figures have been published yet.
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