Adam Connito
I started at Autodesk over seven years ago in a communications role, though I found my way back into marketing through the Service Offerings team in Customer Success. In that role, I really got to sink my teeth into Autodesk’s go-to-market operations and business models while collaborating with different stakeholders across Customer Success and Sales.
Eventually, curiosity about the customer experience strategy with each service led me to journey mapping and service blueprinting. I started doing service design work opportunistically while still in the marketing role, mostly as a means to convey customer value propositions and help bring new services to market. I suppose it was a successful “prototype,” because experience design is now my full-time focus – and I work alongside a new team of six top-notch CX Designers and Journey Managers who are transforming the Autodesk customer experience.
It’s certainly been a winding road to get to my current role. I’ve worn many hats for a few different organizations in my seven years here, but as the Customer Success division grew, so did my network and the scope of my projects. It was really a steady stream of high impact “stretch” projects that increased in size, complexity, and visibility that allowed me to grow through experience. My managers and leadership teams have always pushed me to operate outside of my comfort zone, and I’ve always felt fully supported – even when I fail.
How our culture supports career advancement
Autodesk’s culture of flexibility and individual initiative has been a key ingredient for both my career development and my retention as an Autodesk employee. As a highly creative person, I crave a blank canvas, a big sandbox, and the latitude to approach problems in different ways. I think it’s because I was raised in a house where I was encouraged to try anything and generally “figure it out” on my own (I got in my fair share of trouble 😊).
Again, my management and leadership have always struck the perfect balance of providing me with enough sand to play in while offering me the guidance I needed to succeed. But I also received great mentorship from senior individual contributors (Customer Success Managers, Consultants, and Sales Reps) who took the time to show me the ropes in my early days at Autodesk. Hopefully I’m passing that mentorship on to new employees today – I love coaching and helping colleagues connect the dots.
Elevating the customer experience
I’m really lucky to be in a group that is customer-obsessed (shout out to Customer Success Design!). I think my individual experience of being encouraged to pursue service design work, even when I was in a marketing function, can be extended to an organizational level. There’s electricity in the air on our team – like we’re at the start of a journey (pun intended) to take on big challenges in new and exciting ways.
We’ve formed great partnerships with collaborators across the company who are also bought-in on applying service design for customer-centric, journey-led transformations. Our leadership has really paved the way to build out a super-talented team of designers working on strategic initiatives that cross divisions, products, and processes. And we’re doing it with a laser focus on creating irresistible experiences that customers love!
What makes me stay at Autodesk? The people. Who I work with and for matters so much to me – and I’ve always found Autodesk to be a company of smart, kind, and inspiring people who are a pleasure to collaborate with every day. Culture eats strategy every time.
Ready to shape the world and your future? Join us at Autodesk!