Autodesk CIO shares advice on digital transformation to the AWS Cloud

Autodesk makes software for people who make things. Have you ever driven a high-performance car, admired a towering skyscraper, used a smartphone, or watched a great film? If so, you’ve probably experienced what millions of Autodesk customers are doing with our software. With more than 10,300 employees, Autodesk is an Amazon Web Services (AWS) Advanced Technology Partner in the AWS Partner Network (APN). The company delivers 3D design, engineering, and entertainment software to builders within creative and engineering industries. It serves over 10 million customers, including 99 of the Fortune 100. In 2017, Autodesk began its digital transformation to the cloud in a company-wide strategy to primarily use the AWS Cloud for its entire development practice.

In this podcast episode, AWS Enterprise Strategist Jake Burns speaks with Autodesk chief information officer Prakash Kota about getting staff and leadership onboard with the company-wide enterprise workloads migration to the AWS Cloud. This includes how to motivate staff through training and certification.

Kota started his career as an engineer consultant and has been with Autodesk for 15 years. In the interview, he shares the two-prong approach he used to ensure the Autodesk team had the right set of skills to operate successfully in the AWS Cloud.

“We had this vision of moving all our enterprise applications and the back-office systems to the AWS Cloud,” says Kota. “And it was a rocket launch. We had two months to engage staff in the migration.” Digging into the details, Kota describes the training structure Autodesk implemented to prepare engineers and other staff for the cloud transformation.

Kota also touches on tips for motivating staff and how to retain engineers after they receive the AWS training that makes them even more valuable. Additionally, he discusses why training is just as important for leadership as it is for the rest of staff and shares potential pain points of transitioning to the AWS Cloud. Although these pain points are inevitable, they come with great reward.

“It’s okay to fail,” says Kota. “It’s good to have a continuous learning appetite. Tap into your networks, and make bold decisions. Make sure that you’re leading the migration and the entire team comes along with you. It’s fun and leads to a lot of accomplishments for the team and value for the business. It’s a win-win situation for individuals, organizations, and corporations.”

Listen to the full conversation between Kota and Burns on the AWS Conversations with Leaders Podcast.