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?
Robinson HerzegCEO| LYVVO SMART STAY - The Future of HospitalitySao Paulo/Sp, Sao Paulo, Brazil
I trully believe the widespread adoption of generative AI will enable project managers to use their time more effectively, conduct deeper scenario analyses, engage more meaningfully with stakeholders, and generate more creative insights. Overall, I see a far more symbiotic than competitive relationship between AI and project management. Rather than commoditizing PM skills, prompt engineering and generative AI can amplify a project manager’s strategic value and help those who use these tools well stand out in the market
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Ganesh KanagasabapathyProject Manager| Asasra Teknik Sdn Bhd24, Jln 10, Taman Batu, 68100 Batu Caves, Selangor, Malaysia
The adoption of prompt engineering can differentiate themselves and command higher value to PMs if RTF and CREATE are applied with a complete understanding to project requirement and outcome. Saving Changes...
Ganesh KanagasabapathyProject Manager| Asasra Teknik Sdn Bhd24, Jln 10, Taman Batu, 68100 Batu Caves, Selangor, Malaysia
Need to maintain ethical secure and compliant use of LLMs and generative AI. LLMs can hallucinate or generate incorrect or misleading results this is called AI hallucinations. This can be mitigated by incorporating validation checks to the prompts that are generated by citing sources. PMs need to wary of incomplete nature of LLM training date. LLMs have information till their last training date. To achieve a comprehensive and accurate output PMs need to augment with their reliable source.
Furthermore PMs need to take caution not sharing proprietary and confidential data to LLMs. It is important to be ethical and responsible. Establish verification system that LLMs are links to experts or trusted sources, build automated system with link to authoritative databases, conduct controlled experiment using anonymized data to evaluate how LLMs perform in various situations and encourage constant feedback with teams to maintain the security and accuracy. Saving Changes...
Ganesh KanagasabapathyProject Manager| Asasra Teknik Sdn Bhd24, Jln 10, Taman Batu, 68100 Batu Caves, Selangor, Malaysia
Need to maintain ethical secure and compliant use of LLMs and generative AI. LLMs can hallucinate or generate incorrect or misleading results this is called AI hallucinations. This can be mitigated by incorporating validation checks to the prompts that are generated by citing sources. PMs need to wary of incomplete nature of LLM training date. LLMs have information till their last training date. To achieve a comprehensive and accurate output PMs need to augment with their reliable source.
Furthermore PMs need to take caution not sharing proprietary and confidential data to LLMs. It is important to be ethical and responsible. Establish verification system that LLMs are links to experts or trusted sources, build automated system with link to authoritative databases, conduct controlled experiment using anonymized data to evaluate how LLMs perform in various situations and encourage constant feedback with teams to maintain the security and accuracy. Saving Changes...
I see the use of AI as a valuable skillset and tool for the PM. With training, to include CPMAI and ethics, AI will become a much needed addition to the team.
AI is becoming a permanent part of how we deliver projects. From a project management perspective, the real value comes from integrating it thoughtfully, using it to enhance planning, decision-making, and execution while maintaining ethical standards. Saving Changes...
Prompt engineering commoditizes the doing of PM work. It does not commoditize the thinking.
If your value is in status reports and slide decks — yes, you're at risk. If your value is in knowing which questions to ask, reading the room, and spotting when the AI is confidently wrong — you're more valuable than ever.
The PM who wins is not the one who uses AI the most. It's the one who has enough domain depth to QA it, and enough experience to know what it can't see.
Prompt engineering is leverage. But only you can provide the judgment behind the prompt.
While prompt engineering may streamline certain aspects of project management, skilled project managers who combine technical knowledge, soft skills, and strategic thinking could be continue to command higher value.
Deepak MalhotraLeader - Customer Success| CiscoHyderabad, Telangana, India
Well, I do not think prompt engineering will commoditize project management. If anything, it will make the gap between average PMs and strong PMs more visible.
Prompt engineering may become a common skill, but project management has always been about more than tools. The real value of a PM lies in framing the right problem, aligning stakeholders, managing risks, making trade-offs, and driving execution. Those capabilities are not easily replaced or commoditized.
Used well, prompt engineering can absolutely help PMs differentiate themselves. It can improve planning, communication, documentation, and decision support. But the real advantage will not come from writing better prompts alone. It will come from using these capabilities to make better decisions and deliver stronger outcomes.
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