58 MMS April 2017 mmsonline.com
SHOP TALK
Mr. Bass and the board of Autodesk began
discussing a potential CEO transition more than
18 months ago as part of the board's longstand-
ing CEO succession planning process. When
Sachem Head began acquiring company stock
in late 2015, Mr. Bass and the board put discus-
sions regarding a permanent successor on hold,
determining that stable leadership was important
to help Autodesk navigate investor negotiations
w h i l e s u c c e s s f u l l y
advancing its transition
to cloud-based tech-
nologies and a subscrip-
t i o n - o n l y b u s i n e s s
model. Given the com-
p a n y ' s r e c e n t n e w
agreement with Sachem
Head, it was decided
that this was the right
time to identify the indi-
v i d u a l t h a t w i l l l e a d
Autodesk's next stage
of growth.
The Interim Office of
the Chief Executive will
ensure Autodesk's con-
tinued focus on business
performance and tech-
n o l o g i c a l i n n o v a t i o n
during the transition.
The office will be headed
by Amar Hanspal, senior
vice president and chief
p r o d u c t o f f i c e r, a n d
A n d r e w A n a g n o s t ,
senior vice president
a n d c h i e f m a r k e t i n g
o f f i c e r, a s i n t e r i m
co-CEOs.
S c ot t Fe rg u s o n, a
director on the board,
w i l l a l s o s t e p d o w n
upon appointment of a
new CEO.
Autodesk Inc.,
call 877-335-2261
or visit autodesk.com/
solutions/
manufacturing.
In a published letter to Autodesk employees,
Mr. Bass writes that he and the board had begun
discussing his stepping down within the last two
years, adding: "Our transition to an all-subscrip-
tion business model is well under way, we're
enjoying early but strong success in the cloud
and we have settled with our activist investors.
Now seems like the right time, for both the com-
pany and for me."