Join this panel of members from top construction companies who are advancing innovation and productivity in the industry. We’ll discuss topics, including the state of construction today, barriers to technology adoption, measuring ROI, and how to standardize technology across your organization.

Digital disruption is an inevitable trend in the construction industry, with many digital technologies creating the future construction sites to be completed in the near future. On the other hand, digital data as the output of digital tech use will gather into a data lake and link with ERP and other core systems to advance data use. Transferring from "creating" and "collecting" digital data—including building information modeling (BIM) data—to the next stage of "using" data will be the must. We’ll present our milestones with the ultimate goal being that executives be able to make data-centered business decisions based on data gathered in real time.

In this session, we’ll examine the business value of computational and generative design for your company by reviewing a comparative analysis of design processes, including covering Dynamo, Refinery, and Revit software.

Join fellow executives for this track exclusively dedicated to construction leaders. This is your opportunity to join your peers and meet with members of the Autodesk Construction Leadership Team, as well as access VIP receptions, briefings and discussions, and sessions that focus on topics that are important to you. You’ll enjoy private meals with your peers and members of the Autodesk Construction Team, as well as partake in the Connect & Construct Keynote and evening activities. Note, AU Leadership Experience, which includes the Executive Track at Connect & Construct, is by invitation only.

While it’s certainly not surprising that the cloud-computing market got a major boost due to the pandemic, what’s stunning is just how much. According to market-intelligence firm CB Insights, investors have spent nearly $3 billion on cloud-computing funding between April and June in 2020. Many companies were already on a path to digitization and digitalization, but COVID-19 sped up the acceleration of cloud technologies as billions of people were forced to work remotely. Months later, after the dust settled from everyone's efforts to react, cope, and build resilience, one promising silver lining of the pandemic is that it’s opening doors to new and innovative business models and ways of working. In this panel, executives from NVIDIA, Ansys, Advance2000, Symetri, and Autodesk will discuss the opportunities and challenges of the acceleration to cloud and platform solutions and why they believe digital transformation will lead to better and longer-lasting prospects in the future. Hear from Bob Pette from NVIDIA, Chris France from Advance2000, Eric Bantegnie from Ansys, Nick John from Symetri, and Autodesk CIO Prakash Kota.

The rapid pace of technological developments and the emergence of disruptive technologies such as cloud and mobile computing mean that the opportunities in capitalizing on such advancements have never been greater. However, successfully implementing technology in your business is not just about purchasing software and getting some training. The biggest benefits come to those who step back and reevaluate how they do business, as well as take a strategic approach to changing management. This class will look at the art of business process re-engineering and change management.

For decades, business leaders have shied away from sharing data, not just in regards to competitors, but even with internal stakeholders in other business units. This mindset is starting to shift, however, as studies back up the benefits of sharing data. Data sharing is a business-facing key performance indicator of achieving effective stakeholder engagement and providing enterprise value. Chief Data Officers who have successfully executed data-sharing initiatives in their organizations are proven to be more effective at showing business value and return on investment from their data analytics strategy. This class will highlight how the Saipem data sharing solution, based on Autodesk Forge and BIM360, brings more value to stakeholders from analytics initiatives, facilitates new way of thinking and points out how CDOs that embraces the new mindset around data-sharing will play a more strategic business role.

In this class, veteran financial advisor Kathryn Amenta—who has counseled small businesses for over 25 years—breaks apart the myths and misconceptions of running a small business. She offers best practices for managing and operating a small business, from the crucial first steps to the strategies and tactics that will make your business survive and thrive. Amenta also demonstrates what it takes to adapt and prosper through shifts in the economy and industry. Other featured topics include hiring, payroll, billing, advisory boards, business plans, specialization, partnerships, wearing multiple hats, website marketing, business location, perks and discounts, renting versus purchasing, salary, and work hours.

Companies that offer an inclusive environment to a diverse mix of employees benefit by getting a competitive advantage. It’s not only the right thing to do; it’s also imperative to attracting and retaining talent, delivering results, and staying ahead of the game. Based on Harvard Business Review research, companies with 2D diversity out innovate and outperform competitors. Employees at these firms are 45% more likely to report that their company's market share grew over the previous year, and 70% more likely to report that their company captured a new market. Join us for a compelling conversation among influential industry leaders who will share different dimensions of diversity and inclusion. They’ll offer real-world solutions for fostering a leadership that believes in building psychological safety. You will walk away with key learnings that can have a positive impact on your business and improve employee and customer engagement.

As the sector heads towards a tipping-point of mass adoption, competing on Building Information Modeling's (BIM) efficiency proposition will no longer deliver advantage in the market. There will be shift in the positioning of BIM within designers and contractors beyond its role as a tool for upholding efficient delivery of projects and towards its role as an enterprise "weapon." Expect to see a move out of the project and into the boardroom. Executives need to be savvy in the underlying business models that exist within the various infrastructure stakeholders and begin to articulate the benefits of BIM as it affects core key performance indicators (KPI), cash-flow, margin, brand, and other business factors.

It can be difficult to develop a sound business case and secure funding to implement new technology. This class will discuss an Autodesk Consulting engagement by a major electric and gas utility to develop a strategic implementation plan and business case for the adoption of Building Information Modeling (BIM) for both the transmission workflow and the substation design engineering and construction workflow. The Solution will alter the current design and construction management processes, and it includes InfraWorks software, AutoCAD Civil 3D software, Inventor software, Inventor Publisher software, Substation Design Solution software, Vault software, and BIM 360 software. In this class we will discuss the process followed to analyze the business requirements, develop a Solution, and formulate an implementation plan and cost estimate. The class will highlight an approach to benefit quantification, which includes preparing a net cash-flow analysis and calculating the financial metrics required to present and win funding approval from senior management.

Companies often have multiple tools for supporting their product lifecycle management (PLM) and related business processes. This situation is usually because of the limitations of individual systems and management of PLM-related projects in functional silos. Autodesk PLM 360 cloud-based product lifecycle management provides capabilities that can address most of the PLM business process needs. However, companies still need to build cross-functional consensus to make Autodesk PLM 360 the platform for their PLM processes. This class will describe how to achieve that objective.

This course will look at the rapidly changing dynamics of mechanical prefabrication and the journey from the first expansion into prefabrication through expansion to new business opportunities supplying complete modular mechanical systems beyond their current geographical reach. We will explore the opportunities that have driven the change, obstacles encountered, and the technological solutions that have enabled the transformation.

Is your company ready for a connected products solution? Where are you on your connected product journey? Do you have some definition around what the Internet of Things can do for you and your business? Regardless of where you are in your journey, this class is designed to provide you with some real-world examples of what a successful connected-product business looks like, and how you can start to develop a business case for your own implementation. From identifying design improvements, postsales support, and spares management business, through to advanced system-monitoring services and products as a service, we will look to identify your potential return on investment and phased approaches to your ultimate goal. This session will feature the Fusion Connect development platform.

This case study will cover portfolio creation on business intelligence developed by Toyota Motor North America and Autodesk Consulting. We will discuss Toyota's business requirements, KPIs, and metrics. We'll evaluate Autodesk sources—including Data Connector and the Autodesk Platform Services Token Flex API—against Toyota's requirements. The presentation will teach BI development from raw data extracted from Autodesk products. It will list technical aspects of the ELT process for data extracting, loading, and transforming. An area of focus will be the data engineering processes required to produce meaningful consolidated tables, where data are sliced and diced to target KPIs. The final products include modules' BI dashboards for Executive Overview, RFIs, Issues, Submittals, Forms, Assets, and token consumption, which transform raw data into actionable insights that inform tactical business decisions. The visuals generated from BI equip Toyota with detailed intelligence about the state of the business.

Autodesk Platform Services is an industry-leading Design and Make Platform as a service. It makes the same technology used by Autodesk's SaaS solutions available to external developers and businesses. This class will focus on industry trends, technology insights, and business strategies using Autodesk Platform Services to accelerate the success of your product. This class will help developers, customers, and business partners use all the tools and resources that Autodesk provides to make sure that products built on top of Autodesk Platform Services are as successful as possible. We'll explore tools and resources that will help you learn and use Autodesk Platform Services, and we'll cover how to improve product awareness, marketing, sales, and more. We'll also include information about industry trends that we're seeing, and we'll look at several case studies to show you how products in multiple industries have become successful using Autodesk Platform Services.

SSOE Group leadership panel is open to share their experiences regarding SSOE's technology journey. They will discuss how we employed a flexible formula to balance technology pace with our annual planning needs. We'll reflect on our current state, continuous improvement ideas, business drivers, and embracing new technologies. The panel will talk about the pace of change, the tools and partnerships, and how these bring both opportunities and obstacles to projects and staff. SSOE's strategy for growth, emerging market presence, and efficiency demanded investments in enterprise platforms and people, enabling us to become a more digitally mature organization. We supported the early adoption of Autodesk Construction Cloud that unlocked vast amounts of automation potential and data collection. In less than three years, we autonomously created 3,000 projects just in time for teams to begin working. Our data goals continue to grow as we explore partnerships to build better ways to transform data to users.

AU's Leadership Forum brings futurists, researchers, educators, technologists, and Autodesk executives together with VP- to C-level strategic leaders for a day of discussion and debate on what the future of making things will bring and how to thrive in it all.

Leadership Forum is an invitation-only preconference focused on leadership and management, with an emphasis on developing actionable strategies around technology demands and trends.

Designed specifically for enterprise executives responsible for corporate goals and strategies, Leadership Forum is the most exclusive networking opportunity at AU.

At AU Las Vegas 2017, Andrew Anagnost, Autodesk's CEO, welcomed attendees and shared his experience as a new CEO in a business that is being disrupted, just like yours. Jeff Kowalski, Autodesk CTO and SVP, shared his long-term technology vision and how you can control risk and determinism in your business. Guest speakers included David Rowan, editor-at-large of WIRED Magazine UK, and Greg Brandeau, former EVP and CTO at The Walt Disney Studios and former senior vice president of technology at Pixar.

Collaboration, security, and integration—success factors that are critical to staying ahead of the competition. Managing the change is a challenge, especially if several stakeholders are involved. We want to highlight in this class the approach we took to implementing Vault software in a multisite environment, integrating in the enterprise business environment, respecting the needs and goals of each entity, and getting quick wins in place without losing sight of the roadmap. How can you protect the IP as the customer is working for several clients (internal and external)? What are the challenges in a changing environment when going from local, and how are they different from when you’re going from global and standard? What are the benefits? We will use a real customer project to showcase our experience. We will also highlight the technical solution we put in place.

Pressure for improved top line and bottom line results is relentless. Manufacturers must reduce time to market and improve product capabilities for generating revenue growth, while manufacturing efficiency, material cost optimization, and warranty improvement are key factors that impact profitability. Successful manufacturers are increasingly adopting simulation to simultaneously spur revenue growth and reduce costs. Learn how simulation can improve your business results by making it an integral part of your development process.