To kick off Autodesk University 2016, I am attending the Autodesk Leadership forum. As its name suggests, Autodesk gathers key customers and employees working with the latest trends to talk about leadership in the industries we serve. The topics for the day are the future of making things and the future of work. There are 4 disruptions that affect these futures:
- Design leveraging the cloud (machine intelligence, generative design)
- Production via additive manufacturing, new materials, and construction processes that start to look more like traditional manufacturing
- Demand where customers put a premium on bespoke creations
- Products that will are smart and connected via the internet of things
The agenda for today includes:
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Humans Are Underrated, Geoff Colvin, Senior Editor at Large for Fortune Magazine
"Don't ask what computers can't do. Ask what humans are most driven to do." — Geoff Colvin
"HR coaching of high performance teams in how to use machine intelligence and deep learning is a job that will exist 5 years from now." — Geoff Colvin
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Machines Are Underrated
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Jon Pittman, Autodesk VP of Corporate Strategy (my boss)
"Flying by the seat of your pants actually describes how a pilot can actually feel his control of an airplane." — Jon Pittman
"Curiosity is a prerequisite for people who are willing to learn. Hire people who are curious." — Jon Pittman
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Mike Haley, Autodesk Senior Director for Machine Intelligence
"AI will progress from tool to assistant to collaborator." — Mike Haley
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Brian Pene, Autodesk Director of Emerging Technology
"Letting people spatially organize tasks leads to a 40% increase in productivity." — Brian Pene
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Benjamin Schrauwen, Autodesk Director of Additive Products and Manufacturing Platform
"Jet engines are like razor handles and razor blades. Replacement parts (blades) are where most of the cost occurs." — Benjamin Schrauwen
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Education Is Overrated, Randy Swearer, Autodesk VP of Education
"Blockbuster had few genres. Deep learning at Netflix uncovered 77,000 genres of movies to serve up to customers." — Randy Swearer
"Employers today don't necessarily consider earning a college degree as evidence of employability. You need more." — Randy Swearer
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So What Are We Going To Do?, Mickey McManus, Autodesk Fellow
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From Insight to Action, An Exercise, Mickey McManus
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Reports from the Trenches
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Virtual Reality and Advanced Visualization, Elizabeth Baron, Ford Technical Specialist
"At Ford, immersive evaluations of car designs via virtual reality leads to high throughput discovery." — Elizabeth Baron
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Plumbing and Pipefitting, Mark Buss, Administrative Assistant to the General President for the United Association of Journeymen and Apprentices of the Plumbing and Pipefitting Industry
"Apprenticeship training is the way to get new plumbers and pipefitters." — Mark Buss
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Industrial Systems, Thomas Grimes, General Electric Chief Information Officer
"The 3 notes that you hear when you see the NBC logo are G, E, C for General Electric Corporation. GE used to own NBC." — Thomas Grimes
"The light bulb was not an extension of the candle. At some point, you have to change technology." — Thomas Grimes
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Innovation in the Department of Defense, Zachary Miller, Lieutenant Colonel for the US Army
"The US army uses different apps on different devices with the same data to coordinate battlefield activities." — Zachary Miller
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Virtual Design, Alvise Simondetti, Global Leader at ARUP
"Computer simulations can be used to stimulate experts to do their jobs better by questioning their choices." — Alvise Simondetti
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This event is so packed that I'm in an overflow viewing room for Autodesk employees.
That's Callan Carpenter, VP of Autodesk Global Named Accounts, who is our master of ceremonies.
Participating this way is liking watching a movie in the theater, not the same as being in the room with the presenter, but better than streaming it on my laptop while in my office. I get to feed off of the energy of the crowd as we all react to the insightful things being said and shown.
Leadership forum is alive in the lab.