Anim8or and 3D CAD software share the same basic principles, in the sense that they are both fundamentally databases that manage coordinate data in up to three axes. The main difference is in the application, what the coordinates are used for. Anim8or uses the stored coordinates and ancillary data such as faces, materials, lights, etc to render either a still image or, with the ability to store information on how the point coordinates change over time, animations. CAD software is specifically used primarily in the manufacturing or engineering sectors. It allows the user to accurately define 2D or 3D shapes and volumes and uses the stored coordinate data to control a physical device, such as a plotter, CNC router, plasma cutter or whatever.
Maybe an apt (if rather clumsy) analogy would be a truck and a sports car. Both are essentially the same, having wheels, seats, steering wheels, engines that burn fossil fuels etc., but their fundamental roles are entirely different.
Check out one of your smaller Anim8or files in Notepad, print it out and show the guys at work. If they are familiar with CAD software they will see the resemblance to what they know in the sections that contain data on the models themselves, but they will notice a whole other bunch of sections defining materials, face data, etc.