First Movers’ Advantage: The Immediate Benefits of Adopting Generative AI For Project Management
Embrace GenAI
The time is now for project professionals and organizations alike to accelerate their experimentation and adoption of Generative AI (GenAI) to gain a competitive edge.
Project professionals are actively exploring and experimenting with Generative AI, leading to varied adoption rates and impacts. Existing research has delved into theoretical aspects and potential uses of this technology—but it has lacked insight into how project professionals are applying it, what factors are facilitating adoption, and who the key drivers within organizations are. It’s evident that GenAI adoption is more than just embracing a new technology. It’s about catalyzing organizational transformation.
With this report, our objective is to empower organizational leaders and project professionals to recognize the transformative impact of GenAI on individual performance, as well as to identify the key factors contributing to enhanced adoption. By doing so, we aim to provide the insights essential for fostering increased adoption in the project management community.
How We Define High Adopters of Generative AI in Project Management
One in five project professionals reports applying GenAI in over 50% of their recent projects for managing project work. We identify these high adopters as "Trailblazers." On the other hand, one in four project professionals who use GenAI on projects is considered a low adopter or “Explorer” because they are using GenAI in just 1% to 15% of their projects. These categories are derived from responses collected in the PMI Generative AI in Project Management Survey (2024). Alongside Explorers and Trailblazers, we've identified two other notable categories: Adapters and Innovators. Positioned between Explorers and Trailblazers on the usage scale, these groups play a crucial role in the adoption and integration of GenAI technologies.
Explorers
Using GenAI in 1-15% of recent projects
In the early stages of exploring and experimenting with GenAI, evaluating potential for growth.
Adapters
Using GenAI in 16-30% of recent projects
Embracing GenAI to a moderate extent, adapting to new technologies and incorporating them into their operations.
Innovators
Using GenAI in 31-50% of recent projects
Making significant strides in adopting GenAI, showcasing creativity and forward-thinking approaches.
Trailblazers
Using GenAI in 51%+ of recent projects
At the forefront of GenAI adoption, pioneering new and innovative ways to leverage the technology.
Trailblazers Are Leading the Revolutionary Age of GenAI
Trailblazers stand out by leveraging the technology to augment complex project management tasks, particularly in areas of planning, communication, risk management, budgeting, decision support, and resource management.
But that's not all that gives them an edge.
Trailblazers place particular emphasis on prompt engineering as the most critical skill needed for GenAI adoption. And, Trailblazers are more inclined to actively advocate for GenAI Adoption, creating a positive feedback loop that encourages fully embracing the transformative powers of this emerging technology.
Talking about GenAI usage is the key. Project professionals need to create a constant feedback loop with their peers, such that they have the space to share experiences and knowledge in real time, as well as be able to ask for support.
Organizational Enablement is Key to Successful GenAI-Driven Transformation
One of the most crucial elements we discovered is a strong correlation between organizational enablement and the degree of GenAI adoption in project management. Organizational enablement encompasses strategic planning, governance policies and articulation of clear goals and metrics for GenAI use in project management. Peak enablement organizations are more likely to promote organization-wide GenAI adoption, whereas Foundational organizations are more likely to have individual project professionals who learn and use GenAI on their own.
In essence, to have GenAI technologies adopted at scale in project management work and tasks, the organization needs to fully support and enable the use of these tools enterprise-wide.
About This Report
The report, 'First Movers' Advantage: The Immediate Benefits of Adopting Generative AI for Project Management,' is crafted from research gathered from the PMI — Generative AI in Project Management Survey (2024) and qualitative interviews with community members. Its purpose is to provide project professionals with a thorough grasp of the transformative capabilities of Generative AI.