Autodesk University 2026 Thrive Guide – Back to Vegas, Back to The Venetian

AU 2026: Your Thrive Guide By Shaan Hurley

Welcome to my annual Autodesk University Thrive Guide, written to help you thrive, not just survive the Autodesk Design & Make event of the year. Whether this is your first AU or your 30th, showing up prepared makes all the difference.

AU 2026 returns to Las Vegas and The Venetian, September 15-17. After Nashville last year and San Diego before that, we are back at the venue most AU veterans consider home. And honestly, Vegas has earned it. Cheap flights from almost anywhere, tens of thousands of hotel rooms, everything under one roof, and food and entertainment for any taste or budget. Some of the best sushi outside Japan, legendary steakhouses, and shows like Cirque du Soleil that you simply cannot see anywhere else.

This is my 34th AU counting international events and multi-location years, going back to my first one in 1998. I have packed for this conference more times than I can count, and this guide is everything I wish someone had told me back then.

Event Basics

• Dates: September 15-17, 2026 (pre-events on the 14th)
• Location: The Venetian Convention & Expo Center, Las Vegas, NV
• Time Zone: Pacific Time (PT)
• AU Website: conferences.autodesk.com
• Airport: Harry Reid International (LAS), about 15 minutes from The Venetian by rideshare

Quick Stats

• 10,000+ attendees expected from 60+ countries
• Hundreds of sessions, labs, keynotes, and panels
• 100+ sponsors and partners in the Expo
• AI in Action, Intelligent Data, and Integrated Workflows are the learning pillars this year

Pre-Event: Platform Leadership Forum

If you work with Autodesk Platform Services, APIs, or you are shaping your firm’s platform and AI strategy, the Platform Leadership Forum runs Monday, September 14 from 12:00-6:00 PM at The Venetian. It is a $199 add-on to your AU pass and it sold out last year, so register early if you want in. This year includes an MCP workshop alongside the business and technical tracks.

Why The Venetian Works

The Venetian is the venue AU attendees vote for with their feet. A few reasons:

• Everything connects. The convention center, hotel towers, restaurants, and Grand Canal Shoppes are all attached. You can go from your suite to a session without stepping outside into the September heat.
• All-suite rooms. Every standard room is a suite with a sunken living area. Great for small team meetups without booking a conference room.
• Location. Center Strip. Wynn and Palazzo next door, Treasure Island and the Fashion Show mall across the street, Sphere a short walk behind the property.

One warning for first-timers: the walk from your room to the convention center is longer than you think. Budget 15-20 minutes from some tower rooms to a session room. This is not Nashville where everything was compact. Plan your day so you are not sprinting the casino floor between back-to-back sessions on opposite ends of the property.

What to Pack

The list I refine every year:

• Comfortable shoes you have already broken in. You will walk 15,000+ steps a day. Vegas convention carpet is unforgiving.
• Layers. It will be 95-100F outside and 68F inside. A light jacket or sweater for session rooms is not optional.
• Battery pack and cables. Outlets are a competitive sport at any conference.
• Refillable water bottle. Desert air plus convention center air conditioning will dry you out fast. Hydrate constantly.
• Gum or mints. You will be talking to people all day, usually over coffee.
• Lip balm and lotion. Seriously. It is the desert. You will thank me by Wednesday.
• Snacks. Protein bars save you when lunch lines are long or you are stuck in a great hallway conversation.
• Business cards plus an easy digital way to share your contact info. Both beats either. More on this below.
• A smaller bag for the day. Leave the giant backpack in the room. Your shoulders and everyone on the Expo floor will appreciate it.

Tips to Thrive

• Do not overbook yourself. Pick your must-attend sessions, leave gaps. Most recorded sessions go online afterward. Hallway conversations do not.
• Take real notes. Not photos of slides you will never look at again. Write down the one thing per session you will actually try when you get home.
• Connect on LinkedIn later, not live. Have the conversation first. Follow up the week after while they still remember you.
• Make sharing your contact info dead simple. Carry business cards, they still work and nobody has to install anything. Better yet, set up a digital option that does not force the other person into an app: a QR code on your phone lock screen or a card that opens your contact details or LinkedIn, or the built-in contact-sharing your phone already has. The goal is that anyone can grab your info in five seconds whether they are old-school paper or all-digital. Do not be the person whose only sharing method requires a stranger to download and register for something at a coffee break.
• Use the AU mobile app. Build your schedule, find rooms, and use its attendee networking and messaging to connect with people you meet. It is the one tool everyone at the conference already has open.
• Talk to the product teams. This is the single most valuable thing at AU. Autodesk product managers, developers, and support engineers are walking the halls and staffing the Answer Bar. Bring your team’s toughest problems, your bug reports, your workflow gaps. This is where they get answered.
• Most importantly: bring your challenges. A software bug, a workflow gap, a design problem. AU is packed with the exact people who can help, and they want to hear it.
• Pace yourself in Vegas specifically. The casino never closes and neither do the bars. Day 3 sessions are full of people who learned this the hard way on Day 1.

Eat Like You Mean It: Vegas Edition

Vegas is one of the best food cities in America, full stop. Here is where I would point you.

Sushi (Some of the Best Outside Japan)

• Kabuto – Edomae-style omakase in Chinatown. Small, quiet, exceptional. Book ahead.
• Yui Edomae Sushi – Also Chinatown, also omakase, also worth every penny. If you love sushi, this is a pilgrimage.
• Nobu – Locations at Caesars Palace and Paris Las Vegas if you want the famous name and the black cod miso.
• Sushi at the Wynn – Mizumi is next door to The Venetian and a reliable high-end option when you do not want to leave the Strip.

Steakhouses Worth the Splurge

• Golden Steer – Open since 1958. The Rat Pack ate here. Old-school Vegas at its absolute best, and only a short ride from the Strip. My sentimental favorite.
• Delmonico – Emeril’s steakhouse inside The Venetian itself. Zero travel required.
• CUT by Wolfgang Puck – At the Palazzo, connected to The Venetian. Consistently one of the best steaks in the city.
• Bazaar Meat by Jose Andres – At the Sahara. A carnivore’s playground and unlike any other steakhouse you have been to.
• SW Steakhouse – At the Wynn, overlooking the Lake of Dreams. Great for closing a deal or celebrating one.

Chinatown: The Local Secret

Spring Mountain Road is 10 minutes from the Strip and where Vegas locals and off-duty chefs actually eat. Ramen at Monta, robatayaki at Raku (open late, packed with chefs after their shifts), and dozens of spots spanning every Asian cuisine. If you have one adventurous dinner in you, spend it here.

Quick and Casual Near the Venue

• The Grand Canal Shoppes inside The Venetian have everything from grab-and-go to sit-down without leaving the building.
• Yardbird – Southern comfort food inside The Venetian. The fried chicken is the move.
• Black Tap – Burgers and absurd milkshakes, also in-house, good for a fast team lunch.

Shows and Live Experiences: See Something You Cannot See Anywhere Else

Vegas is the only place on earth with this concentration of permanent, purpose-built live spectacles. Book before you arrive. Good seats for the popular shows sell out, especially mid-week when conventions are in town.

• KA (Cirque du Soleil) – At MGM Grand, and my mind-blowing favorite. The stage itself is the star: a massive articulated deck that tilts vertical, rotates, and lifts performers 80 feet in the air with no fixed floor. Here is the part this crowd will appreciate. That moving stage and its machinery were engineered using Autodesk software, including AutoCAD and Autodesk Inventor, to design and coordinate one of the most complex automated stages ever built. You are watching a live performance running on top of the same tools you use at your desk. Go see it and then tell me our software does not build cool things.
• O (Cirque du Soleil) – At the Bellagio. The water stage still amazes me after multiple viewings. If you see one Cirque show ever, this is it.
• Mystere (Cirque du Soleil) – At Treasure Island, directly across the street from The Venetian. The original Vegas Cirque show and still one of the best. Easiest logistics of any show on this list.
• Sphere – Right behind The Venetian, a two-minute walk. There is nothing else like it anywhere. A 16K wraparound interior screen wrapping 160,000 square feet, plus haptic seats and directional audio that make you feel like you are inside the film or concert. Check what is playing during AU week, whether it is a Darren Aronofsky film experience, a residency, or a concert. Even if you do not buy a ticket, walk over at night to see the exosphere, the 580-foot LED exterior, lit up. It is worth the stroll and the photos.
• Absinthe – At Caesars Palace. Raunchy, hilarious, acrobatic. Not for the easily offended, absolutely for everyone else.
• Penn & Teller – At the Rio. Vegas institutions, and Penn’s engineering-adjacent brain makes the show land especially well with technical audiences.

Beyond the Strip

If you are staying the weekend or skipping a session block:

• Red Rock Canyon – 30 minutes west. A 13-mile scenic drive and hiking trails. Go early morning before the heat.
• Hoover Dam – 45 minutes southeast. One of the great engineering achievements of the 20th century, and this is a conference full of people who will appreciate the concrete pour math.
• Fremont Street and Downtown – Old Vegas, the Neon Museum, and the Mob Museum. The Neon Museum at night is a photographer’s dream.
• Area15 and Omega Mart – Immersive art and technology playground 10 minutes off-Strip. Meow Wolf’s Omega Mart is hard to describe and easy to love.
• High Roller – The 550-foot observation wheel at the LINQ. Best at sunset.

Vegas Survival Notes

• September is still summer in the desert. Expect 95-100F daytime highs. Outdoor walking between properties midday is farther and hotter than it looks. Distances on the Strip are deceiving; that casino “right there” is a 25-minute walk.
• Rideshare pickup zones at every major property are marked but can be a hike from the front door. Build in buffer time.
• Hydrate more than you think you need to. I will keep repeating this because it is the number one thing that wrecks first-time Vegas conference attendees. It is not the late nights, it is the dehydration.
• Everything costs more than you expect. Coffee, water, resort fees. Grab a case of water from CVS or Walgreens on the Strip your first night and keep your room stocked.

Bonus Tip for Presenters and Talkers

If you present, speak, or just talk to people all day like I do, the desert air will wreck you. Request a humidifier from the front desk when you check in, or pack your own small travel one. The dry Venetian air will steal your voice by Tuesday evening and, if you are coming from somewhere humid, leave you waking up with bloody noses and a raw throat. A humidifier running overnight fixes both. Your voice on Day 3 will thank you.

Come to my Session

I am presenting at AU this year, so register and come find me. It is a CAD Management and AI session, and I packed it tight because 30 minutes is all they gave me this year. I could easily fill two hours on modernizing CAD Management with technology and AI including how to read and actually use CER (Customer Error Reporting) reports to support your own users, cut crashes, and build a case with real data instead of guesses. Since I cannot do that in half an hour, I am publishing a big handout that covers how to read and use CER and a lot more, so you walk out with the reference even if I have to talk fast. If CAD management, crash reduction, or putting AI to work in a real engineering environment is your thing, this one is for you.

Let’s Meet Up

For years I organized the AU Fun Run, where a big group of us ran down the Strip at dawn, in and out of a few casinos, before the sessions started. It was a blast, and honestly it kept me going to bed at a reasonable hour instead of staying out way too late. I am not organizing it anymore and no longer with Autodesk. That is now up to the AU Team to pull off, organize, and manage all the health and safety fun of a large group of nerds running down the Strip at sunrise. If they bring it back, go do it!

What I would love instead is to arrange a few in-person meetups this year, one-on-one or small groups, in the spirit of AU community connection. Maybe a throwback: ride a roller coaster, grab a beverage, something fun. Because after 34 of these, I am more convinced than ever that connecting with people is the single most valuable and irreplaceable thing about AU. The technical sessions matter, and they come second. The people are why you come back.

I arrive Sunday and I am bringing my wife Stefanie again this year, on our own dime, just like Nashville last year. She loved meeting all my Autodesk University friends and longtime friends and attending the AU party. We are still figuring out when we leave, maybe Friday, maybe Saturday. One can only take so much Vegas, so little sleep, and that many lights and sounds before it is time to go home.

If you want to get together at AU 2026, reach out by email or drop a comment on this post and let’s make it happen.

And if you are hosting a meetup, running an event, or know of something in Vegas during AU week that is a must-do, tell me. If it is good, I will post an update to this Thrive Guide and help promote it. The best AU moments are usually the unofficial ones, so send them my way.

After AU

• Review your notes within a week, while they still make sense.
• Share the key takeaways with your team. The trip pays for itself when the whole team benefits.
• Follow up with new connections while they still remember the conversation.

Registration is open now, and early pricing runs through August 3, which saves you $250. If your travel approval process is slow, start it today.

For a look back at how AU has evolved over three decades and locations from Vegas to Disney World to Nashville, here is my Autodesk University History.

See you at The Venetian. Let’s thrive.

Cheers,
Shaan