Reid French - Director | Autodesk (ADSK) Executive Profile & Compensation

About Reid French

Reid French (age 53) is an independent director of Autodesk (ADSK) since 2017, currently serving as Chair of the Compensation and Human Resources Committee; he previously chaired the Audit Committee until May 2, 2025 . He holds a B.A. in Economics from Davidson College and an MBA from Harvard Business School, and is recognized for significant software operating experience and investor value creation . The Board has affirmed his independence under Nasdaq standards , and he attended 100% of Board and committee meetings in fiscal year 2025 .

Past Roles

Organization	Role	Tenure	Committees/Impact
Applied Systems, Inc.	Chief Executive Officer	2011 – 2019	Nearly tripled company size and generated a 12x investor return .
Intergraph Corporation	Chief Operating Officer	2005 – 2010	Led transformation from legacy CAD to enterprise software; oversaw 2006 go‑private and 2010 $2.1B sale to Hexagon AB .
Intergraph Corporation	EVP, Strategic Planning & Corporate Development	2003 – 2005	Corporate strategy and M&A leadership .

External Roles

Organization	Role	Tenure	Committees/Impact
Verint Systems Inc. (U.S.-listed)	Director	2021 – Present	Governance expertise; customer engagement software focus .
JSSI Inc.	Board member	2023 – Present	Private aviation services; board oversight .
NetDocuments Software, Inc.	Board member	2020 – Present	Legal document management software; board oversight .
Applied Systems, Inc.	Board member	2011 – 2020	Board service post-CEO tenure .

Board Governance

Committee assignments: Chair, Compensation and Human Resources Committee (CHRC) since May 2, 2025; previously Chair, Audit Committee through May 2, 2025 .
Independence status: Independent director under Nasdaq rules; Board maintains a substantial majority of independent directors .
Attendance and engagement: 100% attendance at Board (9 meetings) and committees (39 meetings) in FY2025; Board engages with shareholders representing >60% of outstanding shares .
Outside directorship limits: Autodesk limits directors to ≤4 public boards (including ADSK); the governance committee affirmed capacity and compliance for all nominees .

Fixed Compensation

Component	Policy Amount	French FY2025 Receipt	Notes
Annual Board Cash Retainer	$75,000	$88,472 (fees earned, but paid entirely in RSUs)	Cash retainer plus prorated chair fees recognized; French elected 100% RSU in-lieu-of-cash .
CHRC Chair Fee	$20,000	Included in fees earned	French became CHRC Chair effective May 2, 2025 .
Annual Director RSUs	$250,000 grant value	984 RSUs; $249,759 grant-date value (7/16/2024)	Subsequent Annual RSUs vest over one year .
Elected RSUs (cash-to-equity)	20% premium on cash foregone	472 RSUs + 79 premium RSUs (7/16/2024); $119,803 + $20,052 values	French elected 100% of fees to RSUs in both cycles .

No meeting fees are paid; chair premiums apply by committee type .
“Fees Actually Paid in Cash” for French were $0 due to his full RSU election .

Performance Compensation

Element	Structure	Metrics
Director equity	Time-based RSUs only	No performance metrics disclosed for director RSUs .

Other Directorships & Interlocks

Current public company boards: Autodesk; Verint Systems Inc. .
Compensation committee interlocks: None; no interlocking relationships in FY2025 and no Autodesk directors on other companies’ compensation committees with conflicts .
Related party transactions: Ordinary-course software purchases by entities affiliated with directors occurred, but no transactions met thresholds requiring Audit Committee approval; none deemed related-party transactions in FY2025 .

Expertise & Qualifications

Executive operating experience scaling vertical software businesses; proven investor value creation (Applied Systems 12x return) .
Transformation leadership (Intergraph CAD-to-enterprise software; large strategic sale) .
Public company governance: service at Verint; broad board experience enhances oversight .

Equity Ownership

Metric	Value	Notes
Total beneficial ownership (common shares)	12,958; includes 20 shares held indirectly by trust	<1% of shares outstanding .
Outstanding RSUs at 1/31/2025	1,456	Reflects unvested director RSUs outstanding.
Director stock ownership guideline	5x annual cash retainer; all directors complied in FY2025	Alignment policy enforced.
Hedging/pledging policy	Prohibited for directors; no hedging/pledging or trading in derivatives allowed	Alignment safeguard.

Note: Attempted to retrieve Form 4 insider transactions for “Reid French” at ADSK for 2024–2025 using the insider-trades skill; the API returned unauthorized, so no transaction-level data are reported here. Beneficial ownership figures are from the FY2025 proxy .

Governance Assessment

Positives:
- Independence, 100% attendance, and deep software operator experience bolster committee leadership effectiveness .
- Strong alignment signals: full election of cash fees to RSUs (with a 20% premium) and compliance with 5x ownership guideline .
- No interlocks or related-party transactions flagged; hedging/pledging prohibitions in place .
Watch items / potential red flags for investors:
- RSU-in-lieu-of-cash premium (20%) increases guaranteed director equity value; while disclosed, it modestly inflates compensation versus pure cash conversion and should be monitored against peer norms .
- Committee rotation (from Audit Chair to CHRC Chair) concentrates compensation oversight responsibility; continuity appears strong given prior audit experience, but investors may track pay metric changes adopted by CHRC in FY2026 (e.g., PSU metric shifts) for rigor and alignment .
Implications: French’s CHRC leadership, combined with his operator background, suggests robust oversight of pay-for-performance design during Autodesk’s business model evolution; limited conflict indicators and strong attendance support investor confidence in board effectiveness .