Andy Jordan is President of Roffensian Consulting S.A., a Roatan, Honduras-based management consulting firm with a strong emphasis on organizational transformation, portfolio management, and PMOs. Andy is an in-demand keynote speaker and author who delivers thought-provoking content in an engaging and entertaining style and is also an instructor in project management-related disciplines, including PMO and portfolio management courses on LinkedIn Learning.
Artificial intelligence (AI) has recently become a hot topic in many industries. Projects have been no different. I am regularly asked what I see for AI project management in the future or whether AI will replace project managers.
Here’s my take: AI won’t replace project managers, but a project manager who understands how to use AI might replace one who doesn’t.
Effective AI for project management
There are already scenarios where AI can help project managers. Those use cases involve administrative tasks that take too much time and add little value. Examples include monitoring task completion, automating the process of following up on overdue items, spotting trends that could become problematic, etc. This will reduce overhead on the project manager and help them focus on higher-value work.
Beyond this, AI will soon be capable of contributing to developing project schedules and plans, considerably extending the capabilities of AI for project managers. AI will assist with risk identification and preliminary analysis, the development of task estimates, and work optimization.
Across the enterprise, AI can deliver significant time savings through shorter project initiation cycles, less time for team members away from assigned tasks, and shorter review and approval cycles. The volume of work that today’s organizations won’t see translate into financial savings, but it will contribute to more significant opportunities. I know one organization is anticipating a 2% increase in its project capacity next year. That may not sound like much, but it represents five key initiatives that wouldn’t have happened without AI.
Contribution, not control
AI solutions are only as good as the data they consume, and when it comes to project information, that tends to be inconsistent at best. Gaps across business areas and projects, different systems, often standalone, and a lack of data governance contribute to problems. Public AI tools are potentially ineffective as they rely on global data sets that may be inaccurate or inappropriate for current use. As a result, anything produced by AI must be validated by a human, and in projects, that’s the accountability of the project manager.
This is why I said at the outset that a project manager who knows how to use AI might replace one who doesn’t.
Leveraging AI appropriately
Here’s an example of how human interaction with AI needs to work. AI can develop response options for a specific risk that has been identified. But should it do that? The answer isn’t straightforward. It depends on the type of risk, the potential exposure, and the ability of the project manager to analyze the risk, among other factors. It also depends on the quality and completeness of the data on which the tool has been trained.
In short, it comes down to judgment, where the project manager comes in. A project manager who can assess those variables and ensure that AI is leveraged whenever appropriate, but no more, will have a distinct advantage.
The future of AI in project management
But what of the future? Will AI be able to replace project managers at some point? Will there be AI project manager jobs for individuals specializing in technology? While none of us can know, I’m skeptical that it will ever be a replacement. AI’s capabilities are a long way from making the kind of consistently good decisions a project manager must make. And it’s even further away from being trusted by business leaders to make those decisions.
Moreover, project management is increasingly about leadership – especially of people. That focus will increase as AI takes over more tedious administrative tasks. AI isn’t suitable for the nuanced, sensitive approach required to lead and motivate diverse teams. And it won’t be ready for quite some time – if ever.
However, AI projects will grow in number and importance across all industries and organizations. Over the next few years, we will see an explosion of AI-enabled products and services, which will be delivered through some projects. Thus, there will be a boom of AI project manager jobs for those who understand the technology.
The bottom line – people + AI = success
AI is a disruptor for all industries. It is an opportunity for project management, albeit with important caveats. AI is only as good as the data it has been trained on. It should only be allowed to aid and support, never to control, and so on. AI is still new, and organizations are still learning to make the most of it.
New use cases will be developed in project management, and existing use cases will evolve. Tools like Project Management Institute’s (PMI’s) Infinity will help project managers leverage their capabilities and understand their potential. Project managers who embrace those opportunities and learn to use AI appropriately and effectively will gain a significant advantage.
AI won’t replace project managers, but project managers who can harness the power of AI will be able to improve their skills and accelerate their careers.
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