Eric SimmsSenior Program ManagerBaltimore, Maryland, United States
I recently began learning about AI and I’m curious what depth of knowledge PMs working with AI need to perform their jobs. For example, do you frequently discuss narrow, general, and super AI with stakeholders? What about the different kinds of Machine Learning (supervised, unsupervised, and reinforcement)? Do you find yourself regularly conversing about artificial and convolutional neural networks, NLP, perceptrons, or binary classifiers? I’m wondering if doing independent research to obtain a good functional understanding of AI is enough to manage an AI project, or if I need to get more formal training.
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Sergio Luis ConteHelping to create solutions for everyone| Worldwide based OrganizationsBuenos Aires, Argentina
As in other type of projects what you need is a general knowledge (general) about the matter. Then you will be able to create "the orchestra" and help "musicians" to perform together. Just to comment I am leading this type of projects from more than 40 years ago, no matter in parallel I am working and researching with AI. But mostly I was assigned like "program manager" and I saw how knowledge project managers that worked with me needed to achieve the objectives. Saving Changes...
I'd say it really depends on the specific nature of the AI solution being considered. While there is certainly generally applicable knowledge (e.g. common risks), the domain is so broad and deep that there is a benefit in developing deeper, specific knowledge.
However, as Sergio has indicated, so long as the organization has committed to provide true SMEs to provide the in depth expertise, the depth of your knowledge does not need to be profound.
I generally agree with both Sergio and Kiron - and yes, it does depend on the nature of the AI solution. If you are developing some net new AI tooling, you would certainly need someone on your core / immediate project team with deep knowledge. However, if you are 'using' or leveraging some AI tooling on your project, but AI tooling is not necessarily the output, general knowledge would be beneficial for you, and perhaps someone nearby, as an external stakeholder that you could consult from time to time. Not sure this is permissible on this board, but thought to share "Destination AI" - it's a light training program that provides intermediate knowledge of AI. Then, if you have access, LinkedIn Learning has a great deal of available courses that can get you up to speed to become at least informed. However, not sure what your knowledge level is, so just thought to share a couple of options. Saving Changes...
