How are AI-Powered Project Management Tools impacting the role of project managers? -Part II

Most corporate employees manage business operations by capitalizing on diverse project management tools and strategies. By deploying effective project management practices in organizations, managers supervise most of the planning, scheduling, and monitoring operations.

But times have changed. With the introduction of concepts such as machine learning, data science, and artificial intelligence, managers are now shifting their focus towards enhancing soft skills.

Most complex projects which used to take days in terms of planning under human supervision are now being commenced in just a matter of minutes, all thanks to the supreme power of machine learning.

AI-powered solutions and machine learning are changing the course of history for all mankind. They have resolved more corporate issues by providing automated solutions than any other individual non-AI-powered business tools over the market. These automated solutions have significantly benefited organizations in controlling costs, analyzing risks, and managing time on budget.

Moreover, AI-powered project management tools are expected to significantly disrupt the field of project management, with the potential to revolutionize the way projects are managed, increase efficiency, and improve success rates. Here are nine aspects of project management that are being disrupted by AI:

1. Better selection and prioritization: AI can detect patterns in data and make predictions that are beyond human capabilities, leading to faster identification of launch-ready projects with the right fundamentals and more accurate selection of projects with higher chances of success.
2. Project Management Office (PMO) support: AI-driven tools are helping organizations streamline and optimize the role of the PMO, with better monitoring of project progress, anticipation of potential problems, automated preparation and distribution of project reports, and greater sophistication in selecting the best project management methodology for each project.
3. Improved, faster project definition, planning, and reporting: AI can automate risk management, help leaders and project managers anticipate risks that might otherwise go unnoticed, and provide real-time insights into project progress and performance.
4. Automated task allocation: AI can automate task allocation based on skills, workload, and other criteria, ensuring tasks are completed efficiently and effectively.
5. Virtual project assistants: Practically overnight ChatGPT changed the world’s understanding of how AI can analyze massive sets of data and generate novel and immediate insights in plain text. In project management, tools like these will power “bots” or “virtual assistants.” Oracle recently announced a new project management digital assistant, which provides instant status updates and helps users update time and task progress via text, voice, or chat.
6. Communication and collaboration: AI-powered tools like Microsoft Teams, Asana, and Airtable can facilitate seamless communication and collaboration among team members, enabling smooth, real-time communication and speeding up the sign-off process.
7. Advanced testing systems and software: Testing is another essential task in most projects, and project managers need to test early and often. It’s rare today to find a major project without multiple systems and types of software that must be tested before the project goes live. Soon, advanced testing systems that are now only feasible for certain megaprojects will become widely available.
8. Risk management and mitigation: AI can be used to disrupt risk management and mitigation in project management, providing data-driven insights and predictive analysis to help project managers identify and mitigate risks before they become problematic.
9. A new role for the project manager: For many project managers, automating a significant part of their current tasks may feel scary, but successful ones will learn to use these tools to their advantage. Project managers will not be going away, but they will need to embrace these changes and take advantage of the new technologies.

With a shift away from administrative work, the project manager of the future will need to cultivate strong soft skills, leadership capabilities, strategic thinking, and business acumen. They must focus on the delivery of the expected benefits and their alignment with strategic goals. They will also need a good understanding of these technologies.

Some organizations are already building AI into their project management education and certification programs, teaching project managers how to use AI to automate and improve data sets and optimize investment value from projects.

One of the major applications of applicant tracking systems is observed among project managers who are investing quite a lot in AI-powered technologies. Companies, where project managers have adopted AI for assigning task roles, have observed a performance increase of up to 20%.

Their revenues have seen a boost of 4%, and their losses have been significantly mitigated by 35%. If AI keeps on revolutionizing the world of project management, the time is not far away when these numbers will double up.

By embracing AI-powered solutions into project management strategies and tools, project managers can stay ahead of the curve and ensure their projects have the best chance of success.

What do you intend to do to incorporate AI into your workspace seamlessly?

Sam Larios | Author