It's not every day you get to sit down with two industry leaders who've helped shape the AEC landscape as we know it. Jim Lynch, who recently retired as Autodesk Construction's SVP and GM, and Amy Bunszel, EVP for Architecture, Engineering, and Construction, have each spent decades driving innovation at Autodesk.
They led major acquisitions, developed groundbreaking products, and championed the people behind the work. With Jim wrapping up an incredible 28-year journey at Autodesk, the timing couldn't have been better for a conversation about the impact these leaders have had on the industry.
In this special episode of Digital Builder, I sat down with Jim and Amy to talk about something we don't always stop to reflect on: legacy. From building industry-shaping products to finding ways to serve construction pros better, today's guests share personal stories, proud milestones, and a powerful look at what it means to leave things better than you found them.
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We discuss:
Legacy can feel like a lofty word, but for both Amy and Jim, it comes down to the lasting impact you make—on people, teams, and the work you leave behind.
For Amy, legacy is all about making things better for the next generation.
"The easiest way I think about legacy is to leave something better than you've found it."
In her view, this is done through the careers we develop, the teams we build, and the communities we influence.
Jim echoes this and adds that legacy also lives in the way we show up for others and the impact that endures even after we've moved on.
"I love Amy's definition. I think it's a really interesting way to look at the concept of legacy. I would add that legacy is also the impact you have and what you are remembered by—whether in your professional career or your private life with your loved ones."
Jim and Amy spend time reflecting on their career highlights, sharing the moments that shaped their journeys—and Autodesk's evolution.
Jim recalls his early days at Autodesk, when he worked on the first version of Inventor.
"When I joined the company, we didn't even know the name of what we were building. It was code-named 'Rubicon.' So, we launched Inventor, and being part of that was really fun."
Another highlight? Integrating Revit into the company and helping establish the foundation for BIM.
"Over the years, there were many competitors who claimed that they had created the term 'BIM.' But I was in the room where it happened. We were like, 'Hey, we need to put a label on Revit. We need to brand what Revit is about.' We were brainstorming, and then somebody in the room said, 'What about building information modeling?'"
"So, I'm proud to be a part of the team that drove the concept of BIM. And now it's a household name in design."
Meanwhile, some of Amy's career highlights include building core design products that continue to serve customers two decades after their launch.
"One of the things that I'm so proud of is the functionality we integrated into Inventor, and it's still shipping and being used by our customers 22 years later."
She continues, "I am super proud of getting AutoCAD into iOS, Android, and the web. So, we now have an extremely modern AutoCAD portfolio for our customers."
Autodesk has built up a lot of momentum thanks to a bold decision to treat construction as a distinct, high-priority focus.
"[Our President & CEO] Andrew Anagnost saw an opportunity for Autodesk to really help our customers drive more predictability across the entire lifecycle, not just pre-construction, but out on the job site as well," explains Jim.
"He felt the way to do that was to create a separate business unit in the company and invest heavily in that. I think it was really an innovative approach."
Jim was asked to lead Autodesk Construction Solutions and lay the foundation for a fast-moving, acquisition-driven strategy.
"I am still grateful today that Andrew asked me to lead this game-changing initiative. We created Autodesk Construction Solutions, and as you know, we made six acquisitions in five years and invested heavily in that business. And we continue to do that today."
The teams at Autodesk have accomplished a lot over the last two decades. Still, as Jim puts it, "Autodesk is far from done in terms of investing and driving profitability and predictability for our construction customers."
So, what's next for the company?
Amy believes the future lies in connecting workflows and unlocking insights across the entire project lifecycle.
"One area we continue to invest in is data. We talk a lot about Autodesk Docs now being that backbone of our platform, everything from early phases and conceptual design to construction and operations."
She adds, "By putting the teams together, we're now able to tell a bigger story, and we've connected the dots across the line."
Amy also touches on Autodesk's evolution into a true platform company and how this has helped accelerate innovation.
"It's been quite the journey. Now that Autodesk is in the cloud, having a set of common industry-specific capabilities that we can deploy across the whole portfolio helps our teams go faster, which then helps customers solve problems faster. And it also provides a great opportunity for third parties to build on top of our APIs to further accelerate digitization."
The next step, says Amy is "to finish what we started."
This includes further integrating acquisitions like BuildingConnected, Assemble, ProEst, and PayApps.
"That will give customers an even more integrated experience. We've connected a lot of construction across the way, and now we need to deepen those connections with design so we can dive more into pre-construction and eliminate mistakes. That way, everything just flows smoothly."
As with most of our conversations on Digital Builder, we touch on the topic of technology and what our guests are excited about.
Jim, for his part, is bullish on the potential of data and AI to drive smarter, more predictive construction workflows.
"Data and AI are going to have such an amazing impact. They're going to play a huge role in predicting issues and automation. So that's the thing that gets me the most excited. And I could go on because there are many really interesting technologies that Autodesk and the startup community are building."
Similarly, Amy is excited about a host of things, including digital twins, industrialized construction, and offsite manufacturing.
"I'm excited about the present and that some of our customers are leaning into these advanced technologies today. Yes, it's sometimes hard to separate the noise from the signal. But I came from a startup, and you want to have a thousand flowers, and then you want to figure out which ones are really going to have an impact."
Digital Builder is hosted by me, Eric Thomas. Remember, new episodes of Digital Builder go live every week. Listen to the Digital Builder Podcast on:
