Will the widespread adoption of prompt engineering commoditize project management skills, or can it help PMs differentiate themselves and command higher value?
Director, Learning Design & Development| PMIAsheville, NC, United States
Hi PMI Community! I’m Sarah Philbrick, and I work as a Product Manager at PMI with a focus on our learning offerings. As we go on this skill-building journey together, I’m excited to engage in meaningful conversations, explore trending topics, and learn from each other.
Reflecting on one such topic, GenAI and prompt engineering, I am interested to hear your perspective on commoditization vs. differentiation.
Will the widespread adoption of prompt engineering commoditize project management skills, or can it help PMs differentiate themselves and command higher value?
Hi Everyone,
A well-crafted prompt acts as a clear blueprint, guiding the AI to deliver accurate and relevant responses. Prompt engineering ensures the instruction is specific, structured, and free of ambiguity. This leads to comprehensive outputs aligned with your intent and context. Saving Changes...
Widespread adoption of prompt engineering will definitely help PMs differentiate themselves and command higher value.
Project managers not only should be familiarizing themselves with new technology in the field, but also be on the outlook for tools that serves the project and lead to increased efficiency.
AI is looked at in my opinion exactly like people looked at the internet 30 years ago.
Some fancy tech everyone would like to have but also need to see what is the utilization and use of it.
Despite AI being an amazing tool ready to use, most people just does not know how to use it. Using AI as search engine or as an advanced chat bot is not the intended use in my opinion.
Learning more about prompt engineering is key to adopt AI in everyday life and work. Saving Changes...
Absolutely — this is a timely and thought-provoking topic, and one I’ve been reflecting on closely. As someone deeply involved in quality and project environments, I see GenAI and prompt engineering as a double-edged sword. Yes, it may streamline and even commoditize routine PM tasks, but it also opens up space for true differentiation. For me, the value lies not in just using AI tools, but in how we frame the right prompts to solve complex project challenges, support smarter decisions, and anticipate risks earlier. PMs who can do this thoughtfully will position themselves as strategic leaders, not just task managers. Saving Changes...
Natasha FalkeProject and Process Manager| Animal Legal Defense FundBoston, MA, United States
While AI can provide additional options for PMs to consider and possibly use, I do not believe it will understand the soft skills that PMs bring to their teams - empathy, compassion, group dynamics will be a challenge for AI to fully understand. Most all PMs also lead many projects across many teams/countries. AI is another tool in the tool kit and can help PMs "get unstuck" if working on a challenge with tight deadlines. Saving Changes...
Gaurav SaxenaAssociate Director| Cognizant Technology SolutionsPune, Maharashtra, India
I this it'd be latter. Reason - I am of the firm belief that no form of intelligence including artificial can ever replace human intelligence on this planet. AI can impact and augment the decision-making capabilities and make it more efficient, but it can never replace it as machines can never develop the 'intuitive' aspect - that 'gut feeling' aspect that at times drives human decisions which appears to be defying all logic but mostly proves to be right.
In my view advent of AI and prompt engineering may have a positive impact on the performance of PMs and may improve their efficiency and efficacy. Saving Changes...
Andrea SimeoniProject Manager| ES srl Progetti e SistemiRoma, Italy
Hi Sarah, thank you for this interesting discussion!
From my experience as a Project Manager in cultural heritage and construction sectors, I see Generative AI and prompt engineering as powerful tools that can significantly enhance a PM’s efficiency, speed, and value creation. These technologies help automate routine tasks, analyze data faster, and support decision-making, which is definitely a game changer.
However, I firmly believe that their widespread adoption will not commoditize project management skills. On the contrary, it will shift the PM role toward higher-level functions—critical thinking, creativity, validation, and ethical judgment. Since AI outputs require constant verification and contextualization, PMs who can skillfully integrate AI capabilities while maintaining a discerning, strategic mindset will truly differentiate themselves and command greater value.
In short, AI is not a replacement but a powerful enabler. The future PM will be one who balances digital innovation with human insight and leadership.
Looking forward to hearing other perspectives!
Saving Changes...
Mariah DouglasBusiness Support Manager| FundboxDover, DE, United States
I think AI is concerning. I feel like a PMs job is to communicate properly and leaning on an AI for email creation, leads me to believe that the communication skills are not strong enough. It also takes away the "learn by failing" aspect of a PM's job. If a form of communication, a sentence or format, didn't land well, did you create it yourself or did AI craft it for you? How will you know what of how to alter your tactics if you did not have the fundamentals to form a base layer, a basic skill. Saving Changes...
Mariah DouglasBusiness Support Manager| FundboxDover, DE, United States
I think AI is concerning. I feel like a PMs job is to communicate properly and leaning on an AI for email creation, leads me to believe that the communication skills are not strong enough. It also takes away the "learn by failing" aspect of a PM's job. If a form of communication, a sentence or format, didn't land well, did you create it yourself or did AI craft it for you? How will you know what of how to alter your tactics if you did not have the fundamentals to form a base layer, a basic skill. Saving Changes...
With the new generation of generative AI portfolio/program/project manager and business analyst role "are dead" at least in the way they were originally defined. I think a good source to understand that are the two courses on generative AI delivered for free by the PMI, mainly if you see the 3 layer model.
Project managers are problem solvers and they do very well in ensuring that ideas or initiatives are birthed to life. There some tasks that the project manager does, that takes lots of their time and does not allow them focus on the actual work of collaborating and engaging with stakeholders to deliver the project seamlessly. These tasks are report writing, minutes of meeting and circulation of minutes of meeting. These tasks can easily be handled by generative AI and will allow the project manager to be more effective and ultimately differentiate themselves. Saving Changes...
Mauro MirtiProject Manager| Vatican Dicastery of CommunicationRoma, Rm, Italy
Where I can find AI courses inside PMI.org? Saving Changes...
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