Autodesk is one of the original Silicon Valley tech companies, starting in 1982 with the advent of AutoCAD, the first Windows-based CAD application. Today, Autodesk produces a growing and ever-developing portfolio of desktop and cloud applications that number in the dozens. All these applications tend to share one characteristic: they help people make things -- from design through manufacturing -- such as skyscrapers, automobiles, movies, and video games.

The Autodesk software portfolio generally falls into three industry categories:

PDM: Product Design and Manufacturing
AEC: Architecture, Engineering, and Construction
M&E: Media and Entertainment

The technologies used by these three industries have blurred into each other, as engineers, thought leaders, and creatives working in these industries increasingly borrow from other industries. Examples in the Automobile industry include using software designed for Hollywood and Gaming Studios in order to create photo-realistic VR scenes to replace physical prototyping and using software designed for Architecture and Construction firms to more confidently install production line equipment in the factory facilities.