Teaching AI for Project Management in Europe

 

I recently returned to Canada from teaching my course, Applying AI to Project and Program Management, at two business colleges in France. This is the fourth time I delivered this course. Students at the Lille and Paris campuses have an option to take the course as part of their Master’s Degree in PPM. None of them had any background in AI, and they were excited to learn how organizations use the different components of AI to improve project performance.  

Although many students are from France, the international representation included Greece, Germany, Poland, China, India, the Middle East, and one fellow Canadian who is an exchange student. While there was a lack of knowledge about machine learning, all students had already used ChatGPT, which is a good indication of their interest in innovative technologies.

The course covered the basics of using algorithms for prediction and classification. I also covered natural language processing and the evolution of large language models (LLMs). Since the students were unaware of AI software vendors that have solutions for project management, we reviewed six interesting ones and how the capability is currently being used by some very forward-thinking companies. All of the AI software vendors offer free demos.

There are now 60 additional students who understand how AI is changing the way we manage projects. I encouraged them to include the course and any new insight about AI on their resumes. Businesses that want to bring that new knowledge to their project environment should consider hiring them. If you have an employee who wants to define a project data strategy and discuss ways for your projects to take advantage of AI technology, they have probably completed my course.