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?
Dheeraj PalProgram Manager| KyndrylDelhi, Delhi, India
Jul 09, 2024 5:45 PM
Replying to Baba Mohamed CISSE
...
The adoption of prompt engineering will give value in project management to those who have a good capacity to adapt in this disruptive world.
I agree with your thoughts. We need to keep changing ourselves from traditional methodology to new AI era. Detailing in the prompt will help you to get a desired response and will increase the efficiency.
Prompt engineering as a distinct skill is already commoditizing itself out of existence — the tools got better at figuring out what I mean, so I spend less time crafting prompts than I did two years ago.
What hasn't gotten easier is knowing what to build, when to trust the AI's output and when to override it, and reading a situation the model has no context for.
That's not prompting, that's judgment — and it's the same thing PMs have always been paid for.
I've been building software 30+ years and doing AI-assisted work daily since 2025; the tool changed, the job didn't. Saving Changes...
I believe both outcomes are valid and complementary. AI can help standardize project management by making processes more structured, consistent, and efficient, while at the same time becoming a source of professional differentiation. From my experience in project risk management, these tools can help structure risk models, identify risks, evaluate alternatives, and generate more complete information to support decision-making. However, the final decision remains the responsibility of the professional. Therefore, I do not think this should be viewed as standardization or differentiation. AI is here to enhance our work by improving the quality, structure, and timeliness of information, enabling better decisions and greater value. Saving Changes...
I once heard a former supervisor say "I didn't utilize XYZ employee like I should have." She spoke of this brilliant Business Analyst we had that got bogged down doing menial work, never utilizing the power of this person's wealth of non-transferable knowledge. It was a huge missed opportunity - especially since the person was stuck doing work she didn't enjoy. She moved on to a role that fit her skill set better. With that in mind, I am excited to have the mundane work taken off my plate so I can create, explore, problem solve, and focus on what makes my heart sing. AI will never replace people - certain tasks, sure - machines, computers, AI... they could not replace human thought, human emotion, human compassion, human cues, etc. It is a truly exciting time, especially for those of us willing to keep learning new things. Coding is not my favorite, but I can totally talk to AI like a person. Saving Changes...
Mary Rose NietoProject Manager| IBM Solutions Delivery IncPhilippines, Philippines
Generative AI can be genuinely useful in project management. It can produce very polished but incorrect outputs, so oversight matters. For best results, organizations should combine domain expertise, strong PM fundamentals and AI literacy rather than relying on AI alone.
Saving Changes...
Anonymous
Prompt engineering will be a skill required of all project managers to some greater or lesser degree. I could see a diversification that might take place.
Saving Changes...
Anonymous
Prompt engineering will be a skill required of all project managers to some greater or lesser degree. I could see a diversification that might take place.
Saving Changes...
Anonymous
Prompt engineering will be a skill required of all project managers to some greater or lesser degree. I could see a diversification that might take place.
Saving Changes...
Maged FowzyProject Manager| United Arab Aluminium6 October , Giza, Egypt
To excel as a Project manager, maintaining peak professional agility and continuously upgrading one's skill set is essential. Leaders must seamlessly integrate emerging technologies into their workflows while driving team productivity, quality, and cost-efficiency under tight deadlines. In today's fast-paced markets, finding highly skilled talent is increasingly difficult. Artificial intelligence addresses this challenge by upskilling less experienced team members and bridging the talent gap. Mastering AI tools allows Project Managers to differentiate themselves, optimize resource constraints, and command higher market value.
PMI Team Member
