From the course: Thriving as a Project Manager in the Age of AI

The elephant in the room: Will AI replace project managers?

From the course: Thriving as a Project Manager in the Age of AI

The elephant in the room: Will AI replace project managers?

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- AI will take over 80% of project management tasks by 2030. That's according to research from consulting company, Gartner. It's a staggering statistic that forces us to confront the elephant in the room. Will AI really replace project managers? If you're asking yourself this question, you are not alone. The fear of losing a job comes up a lot when I speak with others in our profession, they're stressed by AI's potential impact on their roles and feel vulnerable about the lack of control they feel like they have in this situation. After all, we deal with complexities, meddling behaviors, ambiguity and risks when dealing with projects all the time, don't we? It's natural to feel overwhelmed because the speed and efficiency that AI promises simply can't be matched by humans. But if we take a deeper look into AI's relationship with project management, the reality is that the technology penetrating our domain isn't a far off tomorrow. It has already made its mark. Today's project management tools use AI to enable data driven scenario planning for optimal portfolio management, automate scheduling that optimizes project resources, and provide predictive analytics that forecast project risks. Yet somehow when we think about this disruption today, it doesn't seem to be as invasive in our roles, does it? There are two reasons for that. The first is that it takes more than just introducing a tool or a feature for any company to get AI going and capitalize on its benefits. Successful implementation of AI can get complex, especially in areas such as data preparation, employee training, and ethical usage policies, all of which take a lot of time, money, effort, and forward thinking to really take shape. And secondly, the type of project management tasks that AI is primed to take over largely include data heavy and administrative functions like compiling progress reports, crunching numbers for resource allocation, or sending reminders to team members. These mundane activities bog us down, drain our energy, and make us wish someone else could do them. Now, AI can, this leaves us time to focus on things AI can't do, like inspire team members, facilitate decisions, negotiate project scope, and lead strategic planning. All those require uniquely human traits like emotional intelligence, empathy, intuition, and effective communication. So think about it, what if we thought of AI and humans as players on the same team, players with complimentary qualities and abilities, which when aptly paired together, become a winning combination? So even though AI may take up to 80% of our tasks, it doesn't equate to 80% of job loss because AI is not really replacing us to manage projects. It's simply redefining how we lead them.

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