Autodesk University 2025 offered a clear view into how our long-term data strategy is coming to life. For years we’ve invested in making Design & Make data more granular, interoperable, and accessible. Now, with the emergence of agentic AI and the acceleration of Model Context Protocol (MCP) adoption, our data initiatives represent a foundational key to unlock capacity for our customers.
This year, Autodesk University wasn't just a showcase of innovation—it was a confirmation of our efforts. The work we’ve done to prepare our platform and data ecosystem is enabling real, scalable impact. And it’s happening today.
What’s New: Announcements Driving Connected Data
In the lead-up to AU 2025, we introduced several key updates that expanded what's possible with a connected data ecosystem. This week, we built on that momentum with new announcements that further empower teams to unlock capacity, streamline workflows, and integrate insights from their Design & Make data.
Expanding interoperability with more Data Exchange Connectors
In today’s data-driven world, the ability to seamlessly exchange information between systems and stakeholders is critical. Over the past year, demand for Autodesk Data Exchange Connectors has grown significantly, underscoring the need for open and granular data movement across platforms. Today, I’m excited to share how we’re leaning in with new capabilities built to meet that need.
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Autodesk Data Exchange Connectors Now Generally Available for Inventor, Tekla, and Rhino: Teams can now share precise subsets of data across more platforms with new Data Exchange Connectors for Inventor, Tekla, and Rhino now generally available. With these connectors, we’re expanding the suite of tools available to support interoperability across design and business applications.
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BIMDeX Connectors now work on Data Exchange platform available for Beta Testing: Autodesk and Srinsoft have partnered to bring the BIMDeX interoperability platform into the Data Exchange ecosystem—giving customers a high-fidelity, enterprise-grade solution for sharing complex model data across tools.
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Data Exchange for IFC in Public Beta: Data Exchange for IFC is simplifying how open standards are consumed and connected. Now customers can extract a specific subset of IFC files as granular data, which can be loaded with other Data Exchanges connectors, like Power BI and Revit.
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Data Exchange Connectors for Navisworks Now Available: This powerful capability unlocks a range of new workflows, including the ability to generate Data Exchanges from federated models. With this feature, project teams can seamlessly share and leverage coordinated model data across different applications and stakeholders.
Adoption of Data Exchange Connectors has grown by 5x over the past year, but our goal isn’t to produce as many connectors as we can—it’s to deliver high quality, high value connectors for our customers. I’m equally proud of the performance improvements that we’ve continued to drive over the course of this process. We’ve already seen dramatic improvements of up to 10x for some of the key operations in the Tekla, Rhino, and Inventor Connectors.
Strengthening data accessibility and extensibility with the Data Model
Fully realizing the potential of AI-powered workflows starts with accessible, granular data. Through the Autodesk Data Models, we’re breaking down files into granular data in the cloud to enable access to earlier insights, better coordination, and faster decisions. We've already seen 25x growth in data model adoption since last year, and now we’re leaning in with even more capabilities to help customers leverage their data to drive real-world outcomes.
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Access Revit Geometry via the AEC data model in Public Beta: Customers can now retrieve, transform, and exchange granular Revit geometry in ways that simplify coordination and accelerate execution across the project lifecycle. By making Revit geometry accessible through APIs, we're enabling teams to save time, improve accuracy, and enhance interoperability.
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Extending AEC data model via GraphQL API Available in Public Beta: The delivery of GraphQL extensibility in public beta is a valuable step toward making model data more accessible. Users can now add custom properties to a model element, all without needing to copy or edit data directly into the file.
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Manufacturing Data Model V3 API Now Generally Available: This version release gives teams precise control over their manufacturing data, enabling access to historical or current design states at any time stamp. And now, critical manufacturing data like the bill of materials (BOM) isn’t just accessible—it’s editable.
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Coming soon: Revit sync data and Plant3D data via AEC data model APIs will soon enter private betas.
As CTO Raji Arasu mentioned in the AI keynote session, everything we have built — our Industry Clouds, Platform Services, our data, and APIs — has laid the foundation for what comes next. The reimagined Autodesk Assistant is designed to turn that foundation into action: automating manual tasks, bridging disconnected systems, and delivering insights when and where they’re needed most. By improving data granularity, interoperability, and accessibility, we’re unlocking the full potential of your data so you can maximize the potential of what comes next.
Perspective from the Ground Floor
AU 2025 wasn’t just about announcements—it was about alignment.
Across keynotes, breakouts, and conversations with customers, one theme stood out: the future of Design and Make is being shaped by data that is interoperable, accessible, and ready to power AI-enabled capabilities. Our customers are leaning into this shift, embracing new data paradigms and eager for more. The platform is evolving, AI is accelerating, and the future is being built right now.
We’re not just imagining what’s next—we’re enabling it. And it starts with your data.
Want to stay connected to what’s in store? Follow along through our public roadmaps.