Computer-aided design (CAD) is one of the most significant pieces of technology influencing design in the industrial, architectural, and manufacturing industries today.

From building information modeling software (BIM), to civil engineering design software, users are designing buildings, roads, machines, and industrial products used by millions of people every day.

While CAD has dramatically decreased design time and improved the quality of designs, it's also been quite fixed. Aside from CAD's introduction to the cloud in 2012, new CAD technology has been stagnant since PCs became powerful enough to support CAD software in the 1990s.

Bill McClure, vice president of product development at Siemens PLM, notes that "CAD really hasn't changed much beyond adding more features and updating the user interface. We need a new way of working to keep up with demands."

Thanks to some exciting developments in the tech world, CAD is in a prime position to meet the growing demand for smart design and digital transformation. With major trends such as machine learning, AR (augmented reality), VR (virtual reality), and the adoption of IOT (internet of things) platforms, CAD drastically speeds up design time and improves collaboration for users. We highlight the most exciting trends influencing the CAD market today.