Vice President and General Manager of Autodesk Construction Solutions, Jim Lynch, spoke to Irish building magazine about an eventful Autodesk University London, Irish contractors and the company’s Dublin HQ.

Irish building magazine was invited to attend the Connect & Construct Summit and AU London in June as a media guest of Autodesk. This was a major showcase of construction technologies and a great networking event for the international construction community. Many Irish companies attended the event; there were great presentations from Irish teams. AU London was attended by Autodesk customers and partners, and there was a lot of learning for attendees, and many highlights. Asked what the highlights of the Connect & Construct Summit and AU London were for the Autodesk Vice President, Jim says, “Many times we’ll meet our customers one-on-one at their project sites, but it is always impactful when so many of our customers come together at once. Another highlight is the continued willingness of many of our customers to share their learnings with the broader industry at conferences like these, which is really sharing their competitive edge. This type of openness makes the industry safer for those working in the field and more productive.”

Jim says the enthusiasm of attendees after recent acquisitions stands out. “One key takeaway is the palpable enthusiasm for the future following our acquisitions of PlanGrid, BuildingConnected, and Assemble. We are strengthening our presence in existing markets and entering new strategic markets buoyed by the encouragement and partnership of our customers.”

AU London is a smaller event than AU Las Vegas and it offers customers from Europe and neighbouring continents a chance to meet experts, leaders and peers with less travel and cost. However, Jim says that those interested should attend the company’s main showcase in Las Vegas as it is unequalled. “Autodesk University London allows us to meet with so many of our customers from Europe, the Middle East and Africa. For many of these customers, getting to Las Vegas is a cost and time prohibitive trip. However, we can’t express enough the opportunity to join 10,000 participants of Autodesk University Las Vegas. AU Las Vegas is our annual flagship event where existing and future customers from around the world come together to share and learn from their peers and Autodesk experts. While much of AU London is focused on addressing today’s pain points in construction and manufacturing, AU Las Vegas offers a much broader and exciting look at the future of our shared industry. “For those who have not made the journey to AU Las Vegas, I encourage you to experience the event at least once. There’s no other software event like it in the industry. Irish contractors gave presentations that were praised well into the evenings in London and since. These presentations showcased the expertise contractors in Ireland can offer clients, and showed that they are leaders. “BAM Ireland, Mercury Engineering, JJ Rhatigan and Graham are reinventing the way they approach construction by their brazen exploration and adoption of new technologies and methods of building. Leading edge technology such as the heavy use of machine learning to the implementation of industrialised construction are demonstrations of their courage to do what it takes to reduce risk and to better meet the needs of their customers.”

Asked if he has any comments for the Irish construction industry, Jim says, “I have a simple message to the Irish construction industry: keep going. Like Autodesk, so many in the industry are watching what you do because of your leadership and innovation.

“In addition to the advancement of technology by Irish contractors, I urge them to continue to have a solid link to academia, as a baseline 3rd level institutions provide the right skillset and talent for industry, however more importantly it is industry’s role to work with academia to explore what’s next to do More, Better with Less. The appetite within industry and academia to work together is probably one of the most mutually beneficial partnerships for a win-win and this is very evident in the Irish market.” Impressed with the Connect & Construct Summit and AU London, Irish building magazine asks if we can expect large Autodesk events to come to Dublin in the near future? “Last year we opened our European headquarters in Dublin, which makes the city a second home to many of our employees and executives. Ireland is also the home of some of our boldest customers, which makes Dublin a place we will continue to explore for future events.” Jim adds that the company has settled into the community, hosting some big events. “Being part of the community is high on Autodesk’s agenda and already this year we have hosted many events at our Autodesk EMEA HQ including our Autodesk Design Night, with the support of many local design and construction organisations coupled with TU Dublin, in May we worked with Dublin City Council (via the Smart Docklands Programme) and their partners to host the AEC Hackathon and in August we will host Women in BIM & the next chapter of the Revit User Group Ireland at our offices.” Irish building magazine met many readers and friends in London. Thank you to the Autodesk Team for being great hosts for the Connect & Construct Summit and AU London. Follow Irish building magazine on LinkedIn, Instagram, and on Twitter #Irishbuilding #AULondon