Generative AI is rapidly gaining popularity and being widely adopted across businesses and industries. Autodesk CEO (ADSK) Andrew Anagnost joins Yahoo Finance to discuss the growing importance of this technology.
Anagnost emphasizes that companies are increasingly recognizing that the use of AI is essential to staying competitive, and that the mindset has shifted to “if you don't use AI, you can't be competitive.'' . But companies “can't just jump into AI,” he said, because it's usually digital businesses that benefit the most.
As a result, Anagnost observes, many companies are working to update their digital infrastructure “to prepare for AI.” He points out that while some aspects of AI may not sound as sexy as self-driving cars, other mundane use cases for the technology are “really, really important.”
He cited the ongoing tragedy of the Francis Key Bridge disaster in Baltimore as an example of how AI-based tools can significantly improve the productivity of teams involved in cleanup and reconstruction efforts. and demonstrated “incredibly valuable” applications of the technology.
For more expert insights and the latest market trends, click here to watch the full episode on Yahoo Finance.
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video transcript
Sheena Smith: Amazon CEO Andy Jassy released a letter to shareholders this morning. Not surprisingly, one of his big focuses in that letter was generative AI. However, Jassy writes, “Generative AI could be the biggest technology transformation since the cloud.” His comments come amid the excitement surrounding AI and the optimism that has swept Wall Street as Autodesk releases a new report today showing that 76% of industry experts support AI. It really highlights some of the principles. Trust industry AI. We would like to welcome Andrew Anagnost. He is the CEO of Autodesk. Andrew, we're so glad you're on our set. Thank you very much for your time.
Andrew Ananost: Thanks for having me, Sheena.
Sheena Smith: So let's talk about what we learned from the survey. We talked about it over and over again. In fact, last time we spoke, we were talking about how AI is clearly a priority for our clients and customers. What do you see in terms of their interest in AI and how much they're willing to spend on AI to better position their business for the future?
Andrew Ananost: Yeah. Another statistic that's interesting about the statistic you just shared is that 66% of companies believe that AI will be essential to their business over the next 1-2 years. So what they're looking at is saying, look, if you're not using AI, you're not competitive. Therefore, they see a link between future competitiveness and the use of some of these tools.
However, the simple thing happening here is the right thing. You can't just jump to AI. To really benefit from AI, you need to be a digital company and have a digital pipeline. As a result, many companies are updating their digital infrastructure and preparing for AI. But they really see it as a future business imperative.
Madison Mills: Can you tell us more about that work? Because we're talking about how exploitation is happening from AI, and we're investing in AI, but the use cases for these companies that are investing in AI are still poorly understood. not.
Andrew Ananost: Yeah. It is very important to avoid the hype. Jon Stewart did a great job skewering Silicon Valley CEOs last week. But it's also very important to challenge cynicism. A lot of research is being done in AI. The tech industry has been doing it for at least a decade. We've been doing it for over 10 years. It doesn't sound as sexy as self-driving cars or self-driving aircraft, but it's really, really important.
Some of our customer work may take months to achieve significant results. We believe we have the ability to reduce that to weeks or days, but the industries we serve have significant capacity issues. As you know, we serve an industry that designs and manufactures everything. This building, the car you drive, the roads and bridges you cross. It is a $30 trillion industry and employs 295 million people worldwide. They can't produce as much as they need to produce now. We don't have enough money, materials, or people to build or rebuild everything that needs to be built or rebuilt.
Sheena Smith: Sorry to interrupt, but my thoughts are exactly what's going on in Baltimore right now, with the rebuilding of that bridge. How do you think AI will support these efforts? And what can we learn about how AI could help with infrastructure investment and productivity in the future, or is it actually? , what does this suggest?
Andrew Ananost: Yeah. So here's a really important example of what's going on in Baltimore right now. They have to engage in a very delicate process of removing the bridge. This is one of the things where AI is extremely valuable. Knowing how to scan bridges in real time and use highly intelligent and trained AI to determine order in the quickest way possible is within our capabilities and capabilities today. .
We don't currently do that, but this is just one example of a cleanup where AI-based tools can potentially help teams make faster decisions. Now, the construction process can shorten the planning, design planning, and construction cycles and execute in a more compressed time frame. These things are important. This is especially true for something as critical as transportation infrastructure.
Sheena Smith: And Andrew, really hurry up before I let you go. You just saw him in DC and he was talking to DC officials. I’m curious about the top priorities policymakers should be thinking about right now when it comes to regulation, and what that means for AI adoption.
Andrew Ananost: First of all, we need to pass the American Privacy Rights Act. It's on their table. Get over the little bickering differences between the two extremes and get over it. This country is long overdue in enacting a national privacy policy, so good luck. Please approve the act. That's one thing.
Also, what they need to do is the risk-based approach that Biden is taking with AI, look for high-risk areas and then leave a lot of wiggle room and leave low-risk areas. I think it is. I think that's really appropriate. There's a lot of AI that can benefit people right now in our field, especially in capacity issues. Go with the flow, but also manage your risks. Let's make sure that what happened with social media doesn't happen again with AI.
Sheena Smith: Andrew Anagnost, I wish I had more time. There are many things I want to talk about here. We look forward to welcoming you back to Yahoo Finance in the near future.
Andrew Ananost: Thank you for calling me.
Sheena Smith: CEO of Autodesk. Thank you so much, Andrew.
