Innovation Unveiled: AU 2025 and the Future of Design & Make
In a world where innovation was once measured in decades, the rapid pace of AI breakthroughs now reshapes entire industries in mere months. Last week at AU 2025: The Design & Make Conference, we showcased how Autodesk is at the forefront of this transformative journey, blending human ingenuity with machine intelligence to unlock previously unimaginable possibilities.
As industries grapple with urgent pressures, Autodesk's longstanding investments in AI, data, and APIs are uniquely positioned. Automation and integrated systems are helping our customers unlock new capacities and transform how they work. Here's a few exciting developments and announcements made last week in Nashville.
Here’s the TL;DR on the keynote announcements for AECO:
Autodesk Forma: A New Era for AECO
- Forma is the first end-to-end, AI-native platform for the AECO industry, and now Autodesk Construction Cloud (ACC) will be part of Forma, further bridging design and construction workflows.
- Revit will be the first Forma Connected Client, allowing users to access Forma’s cloud capabilities directly from desktop.
- Forma Building Design, launching in beta soon, enables fast, precise building modeling for project leaders, CAD, and BIM architects.
- Forma Data Management (formerly Autodesk Docs) will become the central hub for AECO project data.
New AECO Tools and Capabilities
- Autodesk Assistant is now coming to Revit, AutoCAD, and Civil 3D, automating tasks via natural language prompts.
- Autodesk Estimate will be a new cloud-based estimating tool linking 2D/3D takeoffs to costs, materials, and labor.
- Tandem Insights now brings AI-driven automation to facility operations, shifting from reactive to proactive management.
For more on all the Construction announcements at AU 2025, Check out a deeper dive here.
Customer Impact
- Companies and project owners like Denver International Airport are already leveraging Forma and ACC to reduce coordination time and improve delivery.
In Design and Manufacturing, we’re putting AI to work for you. From developing generative AI-powered editable geometry in Fusion, to embedding Autodesk Assistant in key products, making it easier to collaborate and automate sketches, we’re freeing engineers to focus on innovation instead of administration. For news and insights on the new era of design & make in D&M, read more here.
Leaps and bounds ahead of the tedious hours spent in animation studios and building characters, our Media and Entertainment portfolio showed off major advancements in Autodesk Flow Studio. Giving artists time to focus on creativity and execute faster and more than ever before.
AU 2025 also revealed several key updates that expand what's possible with a connected data ecosystem. empowering teams to unlock capacity, streamline workflows, and integrate insights from their Design & Make data. Expand interoperability with Autodesk Data Exchange Connectors and strengthen data accessibility and extensibility with Autodesk Data Models. Learn all the details here.
And last but certainly not least, from Agentic AI’s powering the way forward, MCPs rolling out and next level API’s, check out our CTO Raji Arasu’s blog on all the major takeaways you should know from AU 2025 and our future focused technology.
Forward-Thinking Vision
We are living in consequential times. We get to decide what the future looks like. At Autodesk, we see the future of design and make as dynamic, collaborative, and deeply intelligent, driven by AI and automation.
From maximizing resource efficiency in AECO to accelerating innovation in Design and Manufacturing and unlocking human creativity in Media and Entertainment, Autodesk's AI-powered solutions are just the beginning of this brave new world. We’re paving the way for smarter, more resilient industry practices, and walking that road together.
We’re so thrilled to join you on this journey of shaping the future together and building a better world along the way.
Missed the General Session or Industry Keynotes? Catch up anytime on-demand.
