Best tech employers in Australia revealed for 2026 AI-focused firms dominate workplace survey. By Denham Sadler on May 12 2026 10:38 AM Print article Smokeball was rated as the best place to work in the medium-to-large company category. Photo: Smokeball The best Australian tech companies to work for are those leading the country’s AI boom, according to a new report. The Great Place to Work Australia’s Best Workplaces in Technology 2026 list ranks 50 top companies based on nearly 25,000 confidential employee survey responses. To qualify, companies must register and complete a certification process that includes a two-week Trust Index survey. The survey asks employees to rate 60 statements on a five-point scale and answer two open-ended questions. Companies that achieve a satisfaction score above 65 per cent are certified as a “Great Place to Work” and become eligible for the rankings. This year’s list features a mix of returning winners and newcomers, with artificial intelligence emerging as a major focus. “There’s something like a technology AI arms race happening across the region at the moment, and Australia is right in the thick of it,” Great Place to Work ANZ general manager Rebecca Moulynox said. “These companies are the ones winning that race. They’re the ones where people feel safe enough to experiment, fail and try again.” Australian tech giant Atlassian dropped out of the rankings entirely after placing third in the medium-to-large company category last year. Atlassian also fell off LinkedIn’s annual Best Companies list for career growth, released earlier this month. The best medium-to-large companies According to the report, the best Australian tech company with between 100 and 999 employees to work for is legal practice management platform Smokeball. In the organisation’s employee survey, 99 per cent of Smokeball staff said it was a great place to work. The company develops legal practice management software for small and medium-sized law firms and has 25,000 users across Australia, the US and the UK. The result marks an improvement on last year, when Smokeball placed second. Mantel ranked second this year, followed by cybersecurity giant CrowdStrike. “To everyone at Mantel: thank you for the candour, for the way you look out for each other and for showing up in a way that earns this kind of recognition,” Mantel posted on LinkedIn. The large-company rankings also featured several major global tech firms, including Adobe in seventh place and Salesforce in 13th. Data centre company AirTrunk ranked fourth, with the business saying it aimed to build an inclusive, high-performing workplace culture. “Being named one of Australia’s Best Workplaces in Technology for 2026 is a proud moment that reflects our commitment to creating an environment where the industry’s top talent can thrive,” Robin Khuda said in a statement. “This achievement belongs to our incredible team of AirTrunkers.” Smokeball Mantel CrowdStrike AirTrunk Cisco Ansarada Adobe Data#3 Carsales Protecht Group Services ServiceNow xAmplify Salesforce Trend Micro Australia Insight Australia Tecala Group CyberCX Experian Australia and New Zealand Docusign Novigi The best small tech companies In the small company category, which covers businesses with between 30 and 99 employees, Macquarie Cloud Services claimed the top spot for the second consecutive year. According to the report, every surveyed employee at Macquarie Cloud Services said it was a great place to work. The company provides managed servers, private and hybrid cloud services, and virtual data centres. “In a service business, the quality of your team is the quality of your service,” Macquarie Cloud Services posted on LinkedIn. “When people feel trusted, supported and genuinely invested in their work, customers feel it too. Behind every cloud workload, every security alert, every customer call, there’s a Macquarie Cloud Services team member doing their best work. Macquarie Cloud Services was rated the best small tech company to work for. Photo: Macquarie Cloud Services “From our graduate engineers to our senior architects and security leads, this certification reflects the team we’ve built and the standards we hold ourselves to.” AI-native consultancy V2 AI ranked second for the second year in a row. CORTO, MaxSoft and Intelia rounded out the top five. Macquarie Cloud Services V2 AI CORTO MaxSoft Intelia Quorum Increment Engaging.io Braze HiBob Huntress Australia Ivolve Technology Codex ADITS KJR Intralot Gaming Services Division 5 Airlock Digital IComm Australia Luminary The best micro tech firms The best tech firm with fewer than 30 employees is A1 Technologies, according to the report. The A1 Technologies team. Photo: A1 Technologies A1 Technologies, which also topped the category last year, is a Microsoft-focused IT consultancy and managed services provider. AI-powered journey mapping and product insights platform Adora ranked second, followed by digital consultancy Causeis in third place. A1 Technologies Adora Causeis EzLicence FuseWorks Aviato Consulting FloQast Hampr Endpoint Focus Catalytic IT Earlier this month, LinkedIn released its annual list of the best companies for career growth, with the Commonwealth Bank ranked first, followed by ServiceNow and SAP. Australian tech giant Canva was ranked sixth on the list. Denham Sadler Denham Sadler is a freelance journalist based in Melbourne. He was previously Editor of StartupSmart, and writes on tech and politics. His work has been published in The Saturday Paper and The Guardian. Tags: great place to work australia employment satisfaction workers