Autodesk overview
Autodesk makes software for designing and building physical things and digital worlds. Architects, engineers and contractors use AutoCAD for technical drawings and Revit for building information modeling, manufacturers design and machine parts in Autodesk Fusion, and film and game studios create characters and effects in Autodesk Maya. The company groups its business around architecture, engineering, construction and operations; product design and manufacturing; and media and entertainment.
Autodesk was founded in 1982 in Mill Valley, California, by programmer John Walker, his business partner Dan Drake and more than a dozen colleagues who pooled about $59,000 to start several software projects. The one that took off was a computer-aided design program adapted from Interact, software written by Mike Riddle, which shipped as AutoCAD in December 1982 and brought drafting to inexpensive personal computers. The company went public in 1985 without having raised venture capital.
Much of Autodesk’s later portfolio came through acquisitions. It bought Revit Technology in 2002, Alias, the developer of Maya, in 2006, and the construction software company PlanGrid in 2018, among many others. Under chief executives Carl Bass and, from 2017, Andrew Anagnost, it stopped selling new perpetual licenses for most products in 2016 and moved customers to subscriptions and cloud services.
Autodesk moved its headquarters from San Rafael to San Francisco in 2022. It reported revenue of $7.21 billion for the fiscal year that ended January 31, 2026, 97 percent of it recurring, and had about 14,300 employees. The company cut roughly 1,350 jobs in 2025 and about 1,000 more in January 2026 while overhauling its sales operation, and on August 3, 2026, it completed its largest acquisition, buying maintenance software company MaintainX for about $3.6 billion in cash.
Software by Autodesk
4 products profiled, from AutoCAD (1982) to Autodesk Fusion (2013).
- AutoCADThe 2D and 3D drafting software that brought CAD to the personal computer 3D, CAD & Engineering 1982 Subscription
- RevitBuilding information modeling software for architects and engineers 3D, CAD & Engineering 2000 Subscription
- Autodesk Maya3D animation, modeling and effects software for film, TV and games 3D, CAD & Engineering 1998 Subscription
- Autodesk FusionCloud-connected CAD, CAM, simulation and PCB design in one product 3D, CAD & Engineering 2013 Subscription
Autodesk history and milestones
- 1982
John Walker, Dan Drake and a group of programmers found Autodesk in Mill Valley, California, and ship AutoCAD in December.
- 1985
Autodesk completes its initial public offering.
- 2002
Autodesk acquires Revit Technology Corporation, developer of the Revit building design software, for $133 million.
- 2006
Autodesk completes its purchase of Alias, adding the Maya 3D animation software.
- 2013
Autodesk launches Fusion 360, a cloud-connected design and manufacturing tool.
- 2016
Autodesk stops selling new perpetual licenses for most products and shifts customers to subscriptions.
- 2017
Andrew Anagnost becomes president and CEO.
- 2018
Autodesk buys construction software company PlanGrid for $875 million.
- 2022
Autodesk moves its headquarters from San Rafael to San Francisco.
- 2025
Autodesk previews neural CAD, generative AI models for creating editable designs in Fusion and Forma.
- 2026
Autodesk cuts about 1,000 jobs in January and completes its $3.6 billion acquisition of MaintainX in August.
Who founded Autodesk?
John Walker
Co-founder; president and chairman until 1986
John Walker was a programmer from Maryland who worked on UNIVAC mainframe systems before starting Marinchip Systems, a small company that sold microcomputer hardware and software built around a Texas Instruments processor. In 1982 he organized the group of programmers who founded Autodesk and arranged the deal with Mike Riddle for the CAD program that became AutoCAD.
Walker served as Autodesk’s president and chairman until 1986, then stepped away from management while continuing to program for the company, and he later moved to Switzerland. He documented the company’s early years in The Autodesk File and published essays and software on his website, Fourmilab. Walker died in Neuchatel, Switzerland, in February 2024 at the age of 74.
Dan Drake
Co-founder and early business manager
Dan Drake was born in Los Angeles and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area, graduated from Reed College and earned a graduate degree in computer science. He worked as a systems programmer on UNIVAC computers at Information Systems Design in Oakland, where he met John Walker, and later joined Walker at Marinchip Systems before the two recruited the colleagues who founded Autodesk.
In Autodesk’s first years Drake acted as a de facto business manager and, with fellow co-founder Greg Lutz, helped convert Mike Riddle’s Interact code into the C programming language, work that became the basis of AutoCAD. He was one of the founders who recounted the company’s early history in a 2020 oral history recorded for the Computer History Museum.
How Autodesk makes money
Autodesk earns nearly all of its revenue from subscriptions. Customers pay monthly, annual or multi-year fees for individual products such as AutoCAD or for industry collections that bundle tools like Revit, AutoCAD and Civil 3D, while large organizations sign enterprise business agreements. Autodesk Flex, introduced in 2021, is a pay-as-you-go option based on prepaid tokens for occasional users. Recurring revenue made up 97 percent of the $7.21 billion the company reported for fiscal 2026.
Autodesk sells directly and through resellers and distributors, and indirect channels accounted for about 37 percent of revenue in fiscal 2026. Over the past few years it has rolled out a new transaction model in which it contracts with and bills more customers directly, which cut the share of revenue flowing through its largest distributor, TD Synnex, from 33 percent in fiscal 2025 to 14 percent in fiscal 2026.
Who owns and runs Autodesk?
Andrew Anagnost has been Autodesk’s president and chief executive since June 2017, after leading the company’s move to subscriptions as chief marketing officer. Stacy J. Smith, a former Intel executive, has been non-executive chair of the board since June 2018, and Janesh Moorjani is chief financial officer. Autodesk is publicly traded on the Nasdaq under the ticker ADSK, is a member of the S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 indexes and has a single class of common stock with no controlling shareholder.
- Andrew AnagnostPresident and CEO
- Stacy J. SmithChair of the board
- Janesh MoorjaniChief financial officer
- John WalkerCo-founder; president and chairman until 1986 (died 2024)
Autodesk: frequently asked questions
Who founded Autodesk?
Autodesk was founded in 1982 in Mill Valley, California, by programmer John Walker, his business partner Dan Drake and more than a dozen other programmers who pooled about $59,000. Walker led the group and served as president until 1986. The company’s first major product, AutoCAD, shipped at the end of 1982.
Who owns Autodesk?
Autodesk is a publicly traded company listed on the Nasdaq under the ticker ADSK, so it is owned by its shareholders, most of them institutional investors and index funds. It has a single class of common stock, and no founder, family or other individual holds a controlling stake.
Who is the CEO of Autodesk?
Andrew Anagnost is the president and CEO of Autodesk. He took the job in June 2017 after serving as the company’s chief marketing officer, where he led its shift from perpetual licenses to subscriptions. He succeeded Carl Bass, who ran Autodesk from 2006 to 2017.
Where is Autodesk headquartered?
Autodesk is headquartered at One Market in San Francisco, California. The company was founded in nearby Mill Valley and was based for many years in San Rafael, in Marin County, before moving its headquarters to San Francisco in 2022. It also has offices across North America, Europe and Asia.
What software does Autodesk make?
Autodesk’s best-known products are AutoCAD for 2D and 3D drafting, Revit for building information modeling, Fusion for product design and manufacturing, and Maya and 3ds Max for 3D animation and visual effects. It also sells Civil 3D, Inventor, Autodesk Construction Cloud and the cloud platforms Forma and Flow.
How does Autodesk make money?
Autodesk makes almost all of its money from subscriptions to its design software and cloud services, sold directly and through resellers. Customers can subscribe to single products or industry collections, sign enterprise agreements or buy Flex tokens for occasional use. Recurring revenue was 97 percent of its $7.21 billion in fiscal 2026 revenue.
Sources
- Autodesk investor relations investors.autodesk.com
- Autodesk, Inc. Announces Fiscal 2026 Fourth Quarter Results investors.autodesk.com
- Autodesk, Inc. annual report on Form 10-K for fiscal 2026 sec.gov
- Welcoming MaintainX to Autodesk, Autodesk News adsknews.autodesk.com
- Autodesk Oral History Panel, Computer History Museum archive.computerhistory.org
- Autodesk, Wikipedia en.wikipedia.org
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