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Autodesk, Inc.

Enterprise Software and Computer-Aided DesignFounded 1982
Reviewed by Swet Parvadiya
Company data updated: September 2026

Leadership History

Autodesk: CEO History

5 leaders · 1982 to present

Who is the CEO of Autodesk?

Andrew Anagnost is the CEO of Autodesk, in the role since 2017. The first chief executive was John Walker, from 1982.

Current CEO
Andrew Anagnost (since 2017)
First CEO
John Walker (1982)
Leaders documented
5
Founded
1982
NameRoleFromToYears in role
Andrew AnagnostPresident and Chief Executive Officer2017Present9
Carl BassChief Executive Officer2006201711
Carol BartzChairman, President and Chief Executive Officer1992200614
Alvar J. GreenPresident and Chief Executive Officer198619926
John WalkerCo-founder, President and Chief Executive Officer198219864
Who was CEO of Autodesk before Andrew Anagnost?
Carl Bass was CEO of Autodesk from 2006 to 2017, before Andrew Anagnost took over in 2017.

Company Overview

Autodesk makes the software used to design buildings, infrastructure, manufactured products, films and games. AutoCAD, shown at Comdex in November 1982 and on sale that December, put computer-aided drafting on desktop machines small firms could afford, and its DWG format became the common way to exchange drawings between firms. The company's weight has since shifted to building information modeling and construction: AECO products including Revit produced $3.58 billion of its $7.206 billion fiscal 2026 revenue, against $1.79 billion for AutoCAD and AutoCAD LT, $1.38 billion for manufacturing tools such as Inventor and Fusion, and $332 million for Maya, 3ds Max and the rest of media and entertainment. The company is headquartered in San Francisco, California. The software titan traces its origins to Mill Valley, California in 1982, when a group of programmers set out to completely democratize computer-aided design (CAD) by moving it from expensive mainframes directly onto personal computers.

Andrew Anagnost

President and Chief Executive Officer

2017 – Present

9 years (current)

Key Decisions & Impact

Bought PlanGrid for $875 million and BuildingConnected for $275 million in 2018 to enter construction management, Innovyze for $1 billion in 2021 and MaintainX for about $3.6 billion in May 2026. Announced Autodesk AI in November 2023 and previewed agentic AI across Forma, Fusion and Flow in September 2026. Moved customers to a direct transaction model from fiscal 2025, settled with Starboard Value in April 2025 by adding two independent directors, and cut about 1,350 roles in 2025 and about 1,000 in January 2026.

Legacy

Anagnost joined Autodesk in 1997 and became president and chief executive in June 2017, finishing the move from perpetual licenses to subscriptions. Fiscal 2026 revenue reached $7.206 billion, up 18 percent, with gross profit at 91 percent of revenue, a non-GAAP operating margin of 38 percent, net income of $1.124 billion and free cash flow of $2.409 billion, up 54 percent.

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Carl Bass

Chief Executive Officer

2006 – 2017

11 years

Key Decisions & Impact

Acquired Navisworks in 2007 for about $25 million, giving contractors clash detection before construction; bought Delcam in February 2014 for about $286 million; and acquired Solid Angle, maker of the Arnold renderer, in 2016. Launched the cloud-connected Fusion 360 in 2013 and ended new perpetual license sales for core products.

Legacy

Bass ran Autodesk for eleven years after joining through its 1993 purchase of Ithaca Software. He decided to stop selling new perpetual licenses for core desktop products in 2016, which cut reported revenue for two years and built the subscription base the company runs on now.

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Carol Bartz

Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer

1992 – 2006

14 years

Key Decisions & Impact

Agreed in 1998 to acquire Discreet Logic for about $520 million in stock, which became the Media and Entertainment division based in Montreal; bought Revit Technology Corporation for $133 million and CAiCE Software, shipped as Civil 3D, in 2002; and agreed to buy Alias for $182 million, closing in 2006. She became executive chairman when Carl Bass was promoted to chief executive.

Legacy

Bartz was hired from Sun Microsystems in April 1992 after a six-month search and ran Autodesk for fourteen years. She ended the diversification outside computer-aided design, took revenue from $285 million to $952 million by fiscal 2004 and past $1.5 billion by fiscal 2006, and bought the products that became the company's 3D and building modeling lines.

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Alvar J. Green

President and Chief Executive Officer

1986 – 1992

6 years

Key Decisions & Impact

Took over the running of a company whose founders wanted to write code rather than manage it, held the dealer-led distribution model while international sales expanded, and kept AutoCAD open to third-party developers through AutoLISP. Green resigned in 1991 and stayed briefly as board chairman; Carol Bartz was appointed chairman, president and chief executive in April 1992.

Legacy

Green joined Autodesk as chief financial officer in 1984 and succeeded co-founder John Walker as president and chief executive in November 1986, the company's first chief executive who was not a founder. Sales grew roughly tenfold over his tenure and passed $100 million in 1989. He was elected chairman of the board in June 1988.

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John Walker

Co-founder, President and Chief Executive Officer

1982 – 1986

4 years

Key Decisions & Impact

Built for the IBM Personal Computer rather than for minicomputers, priced AutoCAD at about $1,000 against far more expensive mainframe CAD seats, and dropped Autodesk's other programs after AutoCAD drew the response at Comdex in 1982. Circulated the company's internal memos to all founders, later published as The Autodesk File. Handed the chief executive role to Alvar Green in November 1986 to return to programming and left Autodesk in 1994.

Legacy

Walker co-founded Autodesk in January 1982, acquired Michael Riddle's Interact drafting program in exchange for royalties, co-wrote the first versions of AutoCAD from it and led the company to its 1985 listing. He said Autodesk was profitable from its first month and had needed no loans or outside investors.

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Challenges & Strategic Context

The most immediate financial risk to Autodesk's growth rate in fiscal 2027 is the macroeconomic sensitivity of its customers, because global construction starts and manufacturing capital expenditure set the hiring and software budgets of the architecture, engineering, construction and manufacturing firms that buy most of its seats. Siemens Digital Industries Software competes with the Teamcenter product lifecycle management platform and its links to industrial automation hardware, a hardware and software combination Autodesk does not have. Dassault Systemes holds the high end of mechanical design, Bentley Systems is strong in infrastructure, Nemetschek sells specialist brands to customers who prefer point solutions, and Blender is free for much of the work Maya and 3ds Max are sold for. Data protection rules, including the European Union General Data Protection Regulation and data residency requirements in Asia and the Middle East, constrain where customer design data can be stored and processed. Autodesk's own fiscal 2027 outlook builds in what management called prudence for temporary risk to billings and revenue while it operationalizes a sales and marketing optimization plan, and its AI features carry execution risk: tools that introduce errors into engineering models would cost the company trust it took four decades to build.

Autodesk CEO and Leadership FAQ

Who is Andrew Anagnost and what has characterized his tenure as CEO of Autodesk?

Andrew Anagnost, an aeronautical engineer who joined Autodesk in 1997, became president and chief executive in June 2017. He completed the move to subscriptions, bought into construction software and made AI the center of the product line. Autodesk's market capitalization was $43.68 billion on September 30, 2026, against a year-end peak of $67.14 billion in 2020.

Who was Carl Bass and what was his impact as CEO of Autodesk from 2006 to 2017?

Carl Bass served as CEO for 11 years, pioneering early 3D printing and maker initiatives, acquiring Revit (as VP) and Navisworks, launching cloud-native Fusion 360, and initiating the subscription transition before stepping down in 2017.

Who was Carol Bartz and how did she lead Autodesk from 1992 to 2006?

Carol Bartz served as CEO for 14 years, transforming Autodesk from a single-product PC shop into an enterprise software leader, diversifying into 3D modeling and architecture (acquiring Discreet Logic and Revit), and expanding revenues past $1.5 billion.

Who was John Walker and what was his founding philosophy at Autodesk in 1982?

John Walker co-founded Autodesk in 1982 and served as its first CEO and lead programmer, authoring 'The Autodesk File' and pioneering affordable personal computer-based CAD software that ran on standard IBM PCs rather than expensive minicomputers.

Who is Janesh Moorjani and what is his leadership role as Chief Financial Officer of Autodesk?

Janesh Moorjani, former CFO of Elastic and senior finance executive at VMware and Cisco, was appointed Chief Financial Officer of Autodesk in late 2024, managing global financial strategy and capital allocation.

Who is Amy Bunszel and what is her role leading the AEC Design Solutions division?

Amy Bunszel serves as Executive Vice President of Architecture, Engineering and Construction Design Solutions, overseeing the engineering roadmap for Revit, AutoCAD, Civil 3D, and Autodesk Forma.

How does the Autodesk Board of Directors govern executive compensation and risk?

Autodesk's Board consists of independent enterprise software leaders who link executive compensation strictly to Total Revenue, Non-GAAP Operating Margin, Free Cash Flow per share, and relative Total Shareholder Return.

How did Autodesk resolve the Starboard Value campaign?

Starboard Value disclosed a stake of more than $500 million in June 2024 and campaigned for board seats and cost cuts. On April 24, 2025 Autodesk agreed a cooperation agreement adding Jeff Epstein and Christie Simons to its board as observers until the June 18, 2025 annual meeting.

Who is the CEO of Autodesk?

Andrew Anagnost serves as the CEO, widely credited with aggressively and successfully driving the company's painful but necessary transition from perpetual licenses to SaaS subscriptions.

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Content is for informational purposes only. Not financial advice. Data sourced from SEC filings, annual reports, and public records. See our full disclaimer and methodology.