Every year, around $45 trillion is invested in projects. However, according to the Standish Group, only 35% of projects are considered successful.

One of the reasons why project success rates are so low is the low level of maturity of the technologies available to manage them. Most organizations and project managers still use spreadsheets, slideshows, and other applications that haven't evolved much over the past few decades. These are adequate when you measure project success based on deliverables and deadlines met, but they are not sufficient in an environment where projects and initiatives continually adapt and change the business. Improvements have been made to project portfolio management applications, but planning and team collaboration capabilities, automation and “smart” features are still lacking.

The organizations best prepared for this new era will be those that reap the most rewards in almost every aspect of project management, from planning to management processes to human resources.

Organizations must set clear expectations for these technologies and configure systems accordingly. All raw and unstructured data in the organization must be collected and cleaned. IT teams must make all this data digestible and readable for robots. This step is crucial to effectively using AI project management tools. IT professionals have a vital role to play in the success of this technological transition. Without available and properly managed data, AI transformation will never happen in your organization. Additionally, no AI transformation will succeed if you don’t prepare yourself and your team for the change.

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This new generation of tools will not only change the technology on how we manage projects but will completely change our work in the project. This technology will help predict faster and better which projects will bring the most value to the organization, which will bring the highest benefits, which are the riskiest and will also help eliminate human bias from decision making, as ML can detect patterns that cannot be discerned by other means and that can far exceed human accuracy in making predictions.

For many project managers, automating a significant portion of their current tasks may seem scary, but those who succeed will learn to use these tools to their advantage. Project managers will not disappear, but they will need to adapt to these changes and take advantage of new technologies. Project managers must be ready to coach and train their teams to adapt to this transition.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is revolutionizing the field of project management, offering a plethora of benefits that go beyond just automating administrative tasks. By harnessing AI technologies, project managers can enhance decision-making processes, streamline operations, and improve overall efficiency and productivity.