Anna Skrypka
“Everything you can imagine is real.” – Pablo Picasso
Design and make is what wakes me up in the morning. Since childhood, I’ve observed my father creating architectural drawings in the studio, as well as making furniture designs for our house. This eventually cultivated my passion for design in all forms, inclined me to a culture of making, and sparked creativity to draw car sketches and film stories about my friends traveling to futuristic worlds in those imagined cars.
Japan has always been my dream place to live as it embodies the concept of monozukuri (making things). So, it was no surprise that after graduating from university and getting my master’s degree in Japanese, I moved to Japan to chase my dreams. I worked as a brand strategist for a heritage brand in Tokyo before joining Autodesk in 2014. Autodesk’s brand promise and the idea of helping customers create a better world designed and made for all impacted my career choice.
Empowering creators and innovators with technology
I was brought on board to help Autodesk with its digital transformation to a SaaS business model and enable customers in Asia to have easier access to Autodesk technology. This includes building digital capabilities and e-commerce functions from scratch, growing business in multiple regional markets (including Korea, India, and Japan), and driving the integration of digital sales business into the company ecosystem.
By partnering with cross-functional stakeholders around the world, we’ve worked on exciting projects across all stages of the customer lifecycle – producing digital content for content marketing campaigns and filming customer stories to increase brand awareness, building growth sales and marketing strategies to drive consideration, supporting Autodesk in creating best-in-class customer experiences to try and buy, activating inside sales motions for retention, and organizing local community events for advocacy.
Today, I lead digital business in the regional market of Japan. Tomorrow, my focus might shift. The world changes, and so do I – and Autodesk provides many opportunities to work on new things!
Culture is more than just words
Autodesk’s culture makes it a truly unique workplace. Our values and the ways we work inspire our culture and enable us to help our customers achieve the new possible. Here are my biggest learnings from Autodesk’s Culture Code so far:
- We’re inclusive: Women can thrive here. It’s a fantastic workplace for women in technology, with multiple opportunities to immerse oneself in global projects and impactful initiatives like Autodesk Women’s Network activities and global conferences like Autodesk University. (My advice: Don’t be in the passenger seat; take the driver’s seat to get involved in these activities!)
- We’re impactful: Community matters. Working here, you can make a positive impact in the community by leading, empowering others to lead, sharing expertise at events like Autodesk University, mentoring startups through the Autodesk Foundation, presenting artificial intelligence/machine learning (AI/ML) solutions at internal technology event TechX, participating in our sustainability impact program – you name it.
- We work as “One Autodesk”: With our collaborative spirit, working with colleagues who are forward-thinking and action-oriented is the key to delivering value for our customers. Celebrating wins with our co-workers and recognizing everyone’s efforts on the way makes a difference.
There are so many amazing career opportunities at Autodesk – it’s a place that empowers through its software and culture. Making an impact in the industry and supporting innovators with the Autodesk Platform can help build sustainable solutions on Earth. Working in the Media & Entertainment space while building products or launching them globally can help creators bring to life stories on important topics to enlighten or inspire us. The bottom line? Our products are used by talented architects, designers, filmmakers, and game-changers who are shaping industries and making history. And when you use Autodesk software yourself (Maya is one of my best friends for personal projects spanning film and music), the passion and profession collide and turn into fulfilling careers.
Want to help design and make a better world for all? Join us!