GenAI Makes Project Managers More Productive, Collaborative, Creative and Effective, finds new research from Project Management Institute

This article was first published by the Project Management Institute.

The report, “First Movers’ Advantage: The Immediate Benefits of Adopting Generative AI for Project Management,” surveyed 500 project professionals from around the globe, all using GenAI in their project work. Organizations that encourage GenAI adoption see an increased use of GenAI among project professionals, setting the stage for transformative and positive outcomes, including:

• Trailblazers are more productive (93% of trailblazers versus 58% of low adopters or “explorers”), elevating their problem-solving (89% vs. 46%), and more effective (88% vs. 50%) by using GenAI. 
• High adopters are strengthening their interpersonal skills – which PMI calls “power skills.” With GenAI, they are boosting collaboration (83% of trailblazers versus 32% of explorers) and creativity (84% vs. 44%). 
• Using GenAI, high adopters are seeing other project improvements, including project scope (87% trailblazers versus 34% explorers), scheduling (85% vs. 46%), cost (85% vs. 42%) and quality management (91% vs. 40%).

A study by Microsoft and LinkedIn shows that the use of GenAI doubled in the last few months of 2023, with 75% of knowledge workers using it, a trend PMI has seen explode in its nearly one-million-member community of project professionals.

“Our research shows that GenAI trailblazers know how to maximize adoption to elevate their performance, navigate complex work, and usher in GenAI across their teams. They’re standing out from their peers for their innovative leadership,” said Pierre Le Manh, PMP, President & Chief Executive Officer of PMI. “We want to ensure project professionals who haven’t yet added this technology to their toolbox can quickly get up to speed and benefit from GenAI given its exponential growth.” 

Learning from High Adopters – Bringing Explorers on Board

Project professionals leading GenAI adoption are already building strategic advantages over those still in the initial stages:  

• Trailblazers are already mastering the critical skill of prompt engineering, the key to unlocking the full potential of GenAI. 
• Trailblazers stand out because they use GenAI for more complex tasks, such as data analysis, planning, and risk management. These high adopters are three times more likely to strengthen their skills with GenAI when compared with explorers (36% vs. 12%). 
• High adopters also recognize the importance of actively advocating for organizational adoption.

“GenAI is transforming every industry, which will create more opportunities for project professionals because they will help organizations implement this disruptive technology,” said Le Manh. “A key insight from the report is that it’s much harder to accelerate adoption without organizational support. Trailblazers are ten times more likely to work for organizations that empower them to use GenAI. It’s these forward-thinking organizations and their trailblazing project professionals that are seizing this moment and are ready to lead the GenAI revolution.”