Let's be honest, trying to find something specific in Jira or Confluence can feel like a full-time job. You're either wrestling with JQL syntax that looks like a cat walked across your keyboard or scrolling through a dozen "Final_v2_approved" docs. It's a universal pain.
Atlassian is trying to fix this with its new AI capabilities, promising a future where you can find what you need by just asking a question in plain English.
In this guide, we'll walk through what Atlassian Intelligence search using natural language can do, what it can't do, and why a tool that only looks at Atlassian products might not be the whole solution your team is looking for.
What is Atlassian Intelligence search using natural language?
So, what is this thing, really?
Think of it as a helpful translator. Instead of you having to learn Jira's specific query language (JQL), you just ask a question in normal, everyday language. For example, instead of struggling to write something like "project = "Mobile" AND status = "Unresolved" AND assignee = currentUser()", you can just type, “Show me all my unresolved issues in the mobile project.”
The AI does the heavy lifting, translating your plain English into the code Jira understands and then fetching the results. It works the same way in Confluence, digging through pages, blogs, and documents to give you a straight answer to a question like, "What is our Q4 marketing budget?" This way, you get the info you need instead of just a list of links to sort through. Atlassian calls it "asking like a human," which is a pretty good summary.
Key features of Atlassian Intelligence search using natural language in Jira and Confluence
Atlassian Intelligence is designed to make finding information within its own world a lot smoother. It brings a few key skills to the table that lower the technical bar and help speed up your day-to-day work.
No more JQL headaches in Jira
For anyone who uses Jira, the biggest win here is the ability to sidestep JQL entirely. This opens up Jira search to project managers, marketers, and other team members who need to find specific issues but don't have the time or desire to learn a query language.
You can ask for things like:
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"Find all bugs reported in the mobile dev project"
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"Show me stories that were updated in the last week"
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"What tasks am I assigned to that are in progress right now?"
A nice little bonus is that the system shows you both your question and the JQL it generated. This can actually be a decent way to slowly pick up JQL without having to study it.
Getting straight answers in Confluence
When it comes to your knowledge base in Confluence, the AI works more like a Q&A engine. Instead of just giving you a list of pages that match your search term, it actually tries to read the relevant documents and pull out a direct answer. This is a huge time-saver when you're looking for company policies, project details, or technical specs.
Common questions might include:
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"What's our policy on working from home?"
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"How do I submit my expenses?"
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"Can you summarize Project Sunrise for me?"
The AI gives you the answer and includes links to the pages it came from, so you can easily check the source or get more details if you need them.
Quick summaries and definitions
To help you get caught up fast, the AI can also generate summaries of long Confluence pages or busy comment threads. This means you don't have to wade through a mountain of text just to find the main points. It can also define internal acronyms or project code names on the fly, giving you instant context without making you open a new tab to look something up.
The hidden limitations of Atlassian Intelligence search using natural language
Okay, that all sounds pretty good. And it is, a definite improvement over the old way. But there's a big catch: Atlassian's AI operates within a walled garden. For most teams today, work doesn't just happen in Atlassian tools, and this creates some major blind spots.
Trapped inside the Atlassian ecosystem
Atlassian Intelligence can only search for information that lives in Jira and Confluence. But let's get real, where does your team's important knowledge actually live? It's scattered everywhere. Key context is often spread across:
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Customer conversations in help desks like Zendesk, Intercom, or Freshdesk.
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Internal discussions and quick decisions made in Slack or Microsoft Teams.
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Project plans and documentation that live in Google Docs or Notion.
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Customer order information from platforms like Shopify or your own internal database.
Atlassian's AI has no way of answering questions like, "What was our last conversation with this customer?" or "What's the latest in the Slack channel about this outage?" because it can't see that data. This means your team is always working with an incomplete picture.
For finding, not doing
The AI's job ends as soon as it finds the information. It can help you locate a high-priority bug in Jira, but it can't automatically triage it, assign it to the right person, or draft a response to the customer who reported it. It finds the answer but then leaves it up to you to figure out the next step. A truly useful AI should not only find information but also help you act on it.
An expensive plan upgrade is required
These advanced AI features aren't part of the standard package. They're only available on the Premium and Enterprise plans for Jira and Confluence Cloud. For a lot of small and medium-sized teams, this presents a tough choice: either pay a lot more for a suite of features you might not need, or go without any AI help at all. This price wall keeps many teams from being able to work more efficiently.
Atlassian Intelligence pricing
So what's the price tag on these AI features? Well, it’s not sold as a separate add-on. To get access, you have to be on one of Atlassian's upper-tier cloud subscription plans for Jira and/or Confluence.
The cost can change depending on your number of users, but the standard prices give you a good idea of the investment.
| Plan | Jira Software (per user/month) | Confluence (per user/month) | Atlassian Intelligence Access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 (up to 10 users) | $0 (up to 10 users) | No |
| Standard | $8.15 | $6.05 | No |
| Premium | $16.00 | $11.55 | Yes |
| Enterprise | Contact Sales | Contact Sales | Yes |
Note: Prices are based on monthly billing for 11-100 users as of late 2024 and are subject to change. For the most up-to-date information, you should always check the official Atlassian pricing page.
Beyond Atlassian Intelligence: A better approach
If your team's brain is spread across more than just Atlassian tools, you'll hit a wall pretty fast. The real magic happens when your AI can securely see everything, and that's where a dedicated tool built for integration, like eesel AI, comes into play. It’s designed to solve the exact problems that a single-ecosystem tool creates.
Connect everything, not just some things
Unlike Atlassian's AI, eesel AI is built to break down information silos. With simple, one-click integrations, you can connect it to all the places your team works:
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Company Wikis: Confluence, Notion, Google Docs
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Help Desks: Zendesk, Intercom, Jira Service Management
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Chat Tools: Slack, Microsoft Teams
This gives your AI the complete context it needs to answer questions accurately, whether the information is buried in a Confluence doc or a support ticket from six months ago. The best part? You can set it all up yourself in a few minutes, no sales call needed.
Go from finding to doing with automated actions
eesel AI doesn't just stop at finding information; it helps you act on it. The AI Agent can work on its own to resolve customer tickets right in your helpdesk. At the same time, the AI Copilot can draft smart, context-aware replies for your human agents to use.
Imagine an employee asks about a system outage in Slack. eesel AI could find the right Confluence page, summarize the solution, and even offer to create a Jira ticket to track the fix, all from a single chat.
Test with confidence and control your rollout
Rolling out a new AI tool can feel like a bit of a gamble. eesel AI takes the guesswork out of it with a powerful simulation mode. You can test your setup on thousands of your past support tickets to see exactly how it will perform. You'll know what questions it can answer and what your automation rate will look like before you ever turn it on for your customers. That's a level of control and peace of mind you just don't get with a built-in tool.
A new heading for the final section
Look, Atlassian Intelligence search using natural language is a definite step up. Anything that saves us from writing JQL is a win. It makes information inside Jira and Confluence easier to get to, and that’s a good thing.
However, its vision is fundamentally limited by the walls of its own ecosystem. Modern teams just don't work in a vacuum; our knowledge is spread across dozens of different apps. An AI that can't see the full picture will always give you incomplete answers. Finding information is only half the battle.
To really change how your team handles support, both internally and externally, you need an AI that can bring all your knowledge together and help your team take smart, automated action.
Ready to see what a truly connected AI can do? Try eesel AI for free and build your first AI agent in minutes.
Frequently asked questions
Atlassian Intelligence search using natural language acts as a translator, converting your plain English questions into queries that Jira or Confluence can understand. This eliminates the need to learn complex JQL or meticulously sort through documents. It aims to provide direct answers and relevant information more efficiently.
Within Jira, Atlassian Intelligence search using natural language allows users to bypass JQL entirely. You can ask questions like "Show me all my unresolved issues in the mobile project," and the AI will generate the correct JQL and fetch the results for you. This makes Jira more accessible to non-technical users.
Unfortunately, Atlassian Intelligence search using natural language is confined to the Atlassian ecosystem. It can only access information stored within Jira and Confluence. It cannot retrieve data from external applications like Slack, Zendesk, Google Docs, or Notion, which often hold crucial team knowledge.
To utilize Atlassian Intelligence search using natural language, your team must be on the Premium or Enterprise cloud plans for Jira and/or Confluence. These advanced AI features are not included in the Free or Standard subscription tiers, requiring a significant plan upgrade.
Atlassian Intelligence search using natural language is primarily a finding tool; its functionality ends once it locates and presents the requested information. It does not perform automated actions like triaging issues, drafting responses, or creating new tickets based on its findings. Users must take subsequent steps manually.
Atlassian Intelligence search using natural language can generate quick summaries of lengthy Confluence pages or dense comment threads. It helps users grasp the main points rapidly without needing to read through extensive text. It can also define internal acronyms or project terms for immediate context.
