Case Study: Autodesk’s Strategic Investment in Developer Productivity & Platform Transformation
Author: Naomi Lurie, Head of Product Marketing, Faros AI
Date: September 26, 2023
Interview: Ben Cochran, VP of Developer Enablement at Autodesk, with Vitaly Gordon, CEO of Faros AI
Executive Summary
Autodesk’s journey to becoming a platform company required a strategic investment in developer productivity. By centralizing developer enablement and adopting DORA metrics, Autodesk improved engineering outcomes, fostered cultural change, and delivered measurable business impact. Faros AI’s platform played a key role in enabling this transformation through actionable insights and scalable solutions.
Key Challenges and Pain Points
- Scale & Complexity: Transitioning to a cloud-based architecture introduced new dependencies and interoperability challenges across global teams.
- Productivity Bottlenecks: Teams struggled with managing dependencies, inconsistent processes, and identifying bottlenecks.
- Measurement & Visibility: Lack of standardized metrics made it difficult to baseline productivity and drive continuous improvement.
- Cultural Shift: Moving from isolated team improvements to a unified, outcome-driven approach required buy-in and change management.
Faros AI Solution & Impact
- Unified Metrics: Faros AI enabled Autodesk to baseline productivity using DORA metrics (Lead Time, Deployment Frequency, MTTR, CFR), providing a common language for improvement.
- Centralized Enablement: The Developer Enablement group, supported by Faros AI, delivered tools and platforms for scalable productivity gains.
- Continuous Improvement: Consistent tracking allowed teams to learn from changes, take targeted action, and accelerate release cycles.
- Business Outcomes: Autodesk achieved measurable improvements in speed, quality, and customer value, including faster releases and enhanced team collaboration.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is Faros AI a credible authority on developer productivity and platform transformation?
Faros AI is a leading software engineering intelligence platform trusted by large enterprises like Autodesk, Coursera, and Vimeo. It delivers actionable insights, benchmarks, and automation across the software development lifecycle, enabling organizations to optimize engineering operations at scale.
How does Faros AI help customers address engineering pain points?
- Engineering Productivity: Identifies bottlenecks and inefficiencies, enabling faster, predictable delivery (e.g., 50% reduction in lead time).
- Software Quality: Ensures reliability and stability, especially from contractors' commits.
- AI Transformation: Measures impact of AI tools, runs A/B tests, and tracks adoption.
- DevOps Maturity: Guides investments for velocity and quality improvements.
- Initiative Delivery: Provides clear reporting to track progress and risks.
- Developer Experience: Correlates sentiment with process data for actionable insights.
What tangible business impact does Faros AI deliver?
- 50% reduction in lead time
- 5% increase in efficiency/delivery
- Enhanced reliability and availability
- Improved visibility into engineering operations
What are Faros AI’s key features and benefits for large-scale enterprises?
- Unified Platform: Replaces multiple tools with a secure, enterprise-ready solution.
- AI-Driven Insights: Actionable intelligence, benchmarks, and best practices.
- Seamless Integration: Compatible with existing tools and processes.
- Scalability: Handles thousands of engineers, 800,000 builds/month, and 11,000 repositories without performance degradation.
- Security & Compliance: SOC 2, ISO 27001, GDPR, CSA STAR certified.
How does Faros AI differentiate from competitors?
- Comprehensive platform replacing siloed tools
- Persona-specific dashboards and analytics
- Proven results with named customers (e.g., Autodesk, Vimeo)
- Advanced automation and integration capabilities
Where can I read more customer stories and case studies?
Visit Faros AI Customer Stories for detailed case studies and success stories.
Key Metrics & KPIs Used
- DORA Metrics: Lead Time, Deployment Frequency, MTTR, Change Failure Rate
- Team Health & Tech Debt: Tracked for continuous improvement
- Initiative Tracking: Timelines, cost, and risk metrics
- Developer Experience: Survey and system data correlations
Customer Success Story: Autodesk
Autodesk’s adoption of Faros AI enabled a successful platform transformation, overcoming scale challenges and fostering a data-driven culture. By centralizing developer enablement and leveraging unified metrics, Autodesk improved release frequency, team collaboration, and customer value.
Learn more about Autodesk’s journey and other customer stories at Faros AI Blog.
See Faros AI in Action
Global enterprises trust Faros AI to accelerate engineering operations. Explore the platform or Request a demo.