Artificial Intelligence for Project Managers: Are You Ready?

Artificial intelligence (AI) is finally coming into its own. Technologies such as ChatGPT, DALL-E, driver-assistance, and autonomous robots are clear signs of an AI-driven market shift. AI technologies, in particular machine learning (ML), are being applied in all sectors of the economy.  Your organization is likely to soon be running projects to apply and even develop AI if it isn’t already doing so. Are your project managers ready?

This presentation overviews AI and how AI/ML initiatives work. We also explore several critical challenges, including the experimental nature of AI initiatives, that data quality is critical to your success, the high failure rate of AI initiatives, and the ethical considerations surrounding AI.  We examine the implications of these challenges and work through strategies to address them.

Topics covered include:

1. 1. 1. What is(n’t) AI?
      2. AI terminology in a nutshell
      3. Are you ready for AI?
      4. The lifecycle of an AI/ML initiative
      5. Overcoming the data quality challenge
      6. Ethical considerations with AI
      7. Business implications of AI
      8. Success and failure factors for AI initiatives

What You Will Learn About Artificial Intelligence for Project Managers

• • • Understand fundamental concepts in AI
    • Identify the key risks, and how to overcome them, of AI initiatives
    • Explore key business and ethical implications of AI

Audience For This Presentation

• • • Project managers who want to understand how to successfully lead an AI project
    • Anyone who wants to identify the challenges their organization may face implementing AI

The Slides

On October 2, 2023 I uploaded a version of the slides that I use to Slideshare.net.  The slides will evolve over time, and I will often tailor the deck for the audience anyway.

Why You Want to Hear This From Me

I was a Vice President at Project Management Institute (PMI) for three years, and one of my duties was to share leading-edge strategies with the PM community.  I was the co-creator of PMI’s Disciplined Agile (DA) toolkit, an agnostic hybrid that supports many ways of working (WoW). I was the thought leader of the Agile Data method which defines critical data quality techniques for successful machine learning projects. I am currently a graduate student in Leeds University’s Masters of Artificial Intelligence (AI) degree program.

 

Presentation History

I have given this presentation in various settings since 2022.   This is one of several topics that I speak on, and you can find about more about What I Do if you’re interested in engaging with me.