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Autodesk Sales

To accelerate profitable growth by empowering customers to make better things through software while becoming the undisputed leader in design and make solutions

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To accelerate profitable growth by empowering customers to make better things through software while becoming the undisputed leader in design and make solutions

Strengths

  • PORTFOLIO: Industry-leading portfolio across AEC, manufacturing, and media with deep integration capabilities driving 15% higher cross-selling opportunities
  • SUBSCRIPTION: 98% subscription-based revenue model provides predictable cash flow and reduces volatility during economic downturns
  • ECOSYSTEM: Robust partner ecosystem with 4,000+ technology partners creating complementary solutions that enhance platform stickiness
  • BRAND: 40+ years of industry presence establishing Autodesk as a trusted authority with 90%+ brand recognition among design professionals
  • INNOVATION: $1.2B annual R&D investment driving AI, generative design and automation capabilities that reduce customer design time by 30%

Weaknesses

  • COMPLEXITY: Enterprise sales cycles averaging 9+ months due to product complexity and integration requirements limiting new customer acquisition velocity
  • TRAINING: Significant learning curve for new users with 68% reporting need for specialized training, creating adoption friction especially in SMB segment
  • COMPETITION: Price sensitivity in emerging markets where cheaper alternatives are gaining 12% market share annually against core Autodesk offerings
  • CHANNEL: Indirect sales channels account for 70% of revenue but lack consistent capacity to demonstrate advanced product capabilities and ROI
  • VERTICALIZATION: Limited industry-specific solutions for key verticals resulting in 22% lower penetration in specialized segments like infrastructure

Opportunities

  • CLOUD: Accelerating cloud migration offers 30% higher lifetime value through increased usage-based billing and improved customer retention
  • SUSTAINABILITY: Growing demand for sustainability solutions in construction and manufacturing with 65% of enterprise customers prioritizing green initiatives
  • EMERGING: Expansion into emerging markets where infrastructure investment is growing at 2x global rate, particularly in Asia-Pacific and Middle East
  • AUTOMATION: Increasing customer demand for workflow automation that reduces design time by 40% and eliminates repetitive tasks
  • INTEGRATION: Strategic acquisitions to strengthen platform capabilities and enter adjacent markets, expanding total addressable market by $10B+

Threats

  • DISRUPTION: Emerging AI-native competitors offering point solutions at 50-70% lower cost with simplified interfaces threatening SMB market share
  • ECONOMIC: Cyclical construction and manufacturing industry fluctuations impacting customer spending with 15% reduction during downturns
  • TALENT: Industry-wide shortage of skilled CAD/BIM professionals limiting customer adoption capabilities and implementation timelines
  • PIRACY: Unauthorized software usage in emerging markets reducing potential revenue by an estimated $300M annually
  • FRAGMENTATION: Market increasingly fragmented by specialized vertical solutions optimized for specific workflows, eroding platform advantages

Key Priorities

  • CLOUD ACCELERATION: Prioritize cloud migration with targeted incentives to move 75% of remaining legacy customers to subscription platforms
  • AI INTEGRATION: Embed AI capabilities across all core products to deliver 30%+ efficiency gains and counter disruption from AI-native competitors
  • PARTNER ENABLEMENT: Enhance channel partner capabilities through certification programs and co-selling resources to improve enterprise sales velocity
  • SIMPLIFICATION: Develop simplified user experiences and onboarding paths to reduce adoption friction and expand SMB market penetration
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To accelerate profitable growth by empowering customers to make better things through software while becoming the undisputed leader in design and make solutions

CLOUD DOMINATION

Own the cloud market for design & make solutions

  • MIGRATION: Transition 85% of remaining legacy customers to cloud subscription platforms with <5% revenue dilution by Q4
  • ADOPTION: Achieve 50% active usage of cloud-specific features across all subscription customers measured weekly
  • EXPANSION: Increase cloud product revenue by 40% YoY through targeted upsell campaigns to existing customers
  • RETENTION: Improve cloud subscription net retention rate to 115% through enhanced customer success programs and early renewal campaigns
AI ACCELERATION

Embed AI at the core of every customer workflow

  • PLATFORM: Launch unified AI platform with common architecture across all major products by end of Q3
  • ADOPTION: Achieve 60% weekly active usage of AI features across customer base, up from current 32%
  • TRAINING: Certify 90% of customer-facing roles on AI value proposition and demonstration capabilities
  • WORKFLOWS: Deliver 5 industry-specific AI workflow solutions that demonstrate 30%+ efficiency improvement with measurable ROI
ECOSYSTEM POWER

Unleash partner network to drive enterprise growth

  • CERTIFICATION: Achieve 85% partner certification completion rate across top tier partners through tiered incentive program
  • CO-SELLING: Generate $120M in new pipeline through joint account planning with strategic partners, a 35% increase YoY
  • ENABLEMENT: Deploy comprehensive partner enablement platform with 90% monthly active usage among partner sellers
  • SPECIALIZATION: Develop 12 new vertical-specific partner solution packages with documented implementation methodologies
FRICTIONLESS PATH

Simplify every touchpoint in the customer journey

  • ONBOARDING: Reduce new user time-to-value by 40% through AI-powered personalized learning paths and simplified interfaces
  • SELF-SERVICE: Enable 70% of support and training interactions through digital channels, improving satisfaction while reducing costs
  • INSIGHTS: Deploy real-time customer health dashboard with predictive indicators achieving 80% accuracy for renewal forecasting
  • EXPANSION: Implement guided product adoption journeys resulting in 0.5 product expansion per customer annually, up from 0.3
METRICS
  • Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR): $5.2B
  • Net Revenue Retention (NRR): 115%
  • Cloud Product Adoption: 50%
VALUES
  • Customer Success
  • Innovation
  • Sustainability
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Align the learnings

Autodesk Sales Retrospective

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To accelerate profitable growth by empowering customers to make better things through software while becoming the undisputed leader in design and make solutions

What Went Well

  • REVENUE: Achieved 16% year-over-year subscription revenue growth, exceeding guidance by 2 percentage points
  • RETENTION: Improved net revenue retention to 110%, up from 105% in previous year through enhanced customer success initiatives
  • MARGINS: Expanded non-GAAP operating margins to 36%, a 200 basis point improvement through operational efficiency initiatives
  • CLOUD: Accelerated cloud product adoption with 42% growth in cloud-based offerings, now representing 35% of total revenue

Not So Well

  • ENTERPRISE: Large enterprise deals closing rates fell 8% below forecast due to extended approval cycles and economic uncertainty
  • CHANNEL: Channel partner certification program adoption at 65%, below 80% target, limiting ability to sell advanced solutions
  • EXPANSION: Cross-sell motion underperformed with average products per customer increasing only 0.3 vs. 0.5 target
  • EMERGING: Growth in emerging markets at 12%, below 18% target due to economic headwinds and increased competition

Learnings

  • VALUE: ROI-focused selling materials demonstrating concrete business outcomes drove 35% higher conversion rates vs. feature-focused approaches
  • ENABLEMENT: Digital self-service channels showed 28% higher efficiency for SMB segment acquisition vs. traditional sales approaches
  • ALIGNMENT: Revenue teams aligned to industry verticals outperformed general sales teams by 22% in both new logo acquisition and expansion
  • BUNDLING: Industry-specific solution bundles achieved 40% higher adoption rates compared to à la carte product offerings

Action Items

  • PLAYBOOKS: Develop industry-specific value selling playbooks with concrete ROI calculators for top 5 use cases in each vertical
  • INCENTIVES: Realign compensation structure to increase emphasis on multi-product adoption and cloud migration
  • ENABLEMENT: Launch digital certification program for channel partners with tier-based benefits tied to capabilities and performance
  • INSIGHTS: Implement advanced analytics dashboard for sales leadership to identify leading indicators of deal velocity and conversion
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To accelerate profitable growth by empowering customers to make better things through software while becoming the undisputed leader in design and make solutions

Strengths

  • FOUNDATION: Strong foundation of geometric data and industry-specific knowledge providing unique AI training advantages against generalist competitors
  • ACQUISITION: Strategic acquisitions of AI companies including PlanGrid and Spacemaker providing domain-specific AI capabilities with 2-year integration head start
  • COMPUTE: Cloud infrastructure partnerships with AWS and Azure enabling high-performance computing access for complex generative design processes
  • TALENT: 300+ AI/ML specialists across R&D centers globally developing proprietary algorithms for design optimization and automation
  • ECOSYSTEM: Open API platform enabling integration of third-party AI solutions, creating network effects and expanding innovation capacity

Weaknesses

  • INTEGRATION: Fragmented AI implementation across product lines with limited cross-portfolio synergies reducing economies of scale
  • ADOPTION: Only 32% of customers actively using AI features despite availability, indicating gaps in value demonstration and training
  • DATA: Siloed customer usage data limiting ability to train comprehensive AI models and deliver personalized experiences
  • MESSAGING: Unclear AI value proposition compared to specialized AI-native competitors leading to 25% lower conversion on AI-specific features
  • INVESTMENT: AI R&D budget at 15% of total, below industry leaders at 25%+ limiting breakthrough innovation potential

Opportunities

  • WORKFLOW: AI-powered workflow automation could reduce customer design time by 50%+ while maintaining quality, creating compelling ROI narrative
  • GENERATIVE: Generative design capabilities can enable 10x more design iterations, optimizing for cost, performance, and sustainability simultaneously
  • PREDICTIVE: Predictive maintenance and performance simulation expanding into $5B operations market adjacent to current design focus
  • COLLABORATION: AI-enhanced collaboration tools reducing coordination issues that account for 30% of project delays and budget overruns
  • CUSTOMIZATION: Personalized learning paths and interfaces to reduce training requirements by 60%, accelerating adoption for new users

Threats

  • COMMODITIZATION: General-purpose AI tools from tech giants offering 'good enough' design capabilities at significantly lower price points
  • SPECIALIZATION: Vertical-specific AI startups with deeper domain expertise in niche areas gaining traction with 3x faster feature development cycles
  • TALENT: Increasing competition for AI talent with tech giants offering 30-40% higher compensation packages limiting recruitment capabilities
  • EXPECTATIONS: Rising customer expectations for AI capabilities outpacing development capacity, creating satisfaction gaps and churn risk
  • REGULATION: Emerging AI regulations creating compliance requirements that could delay product releases by 6-9 months in key markets

Key Priorities

  • AI PLATFORM: Develop unified AI platform strategy across all products with common architecture and data model to accelerate innovation
  • VERTICAL AI: Prioritize industry-specific AI solutions with demonstrable ROI focused on highest-value customer workflows
  • SKILLS DEVELOPMENT: Launch comprehensive AI capabilities training program for sales, support and channel partners to drive adoption
  • DATA STRATEGY: Implement comprehensive data collection and consent framework to enhance AI training capabilities while ensuring compliance