I’ve been asked this many times, and my first response is always: what do you want to achieve with AI? Once the outcome is clear, we can define the right approach, tools, and path forward.
Totally agree. The goal is the major determinant Saving Changes...
Anonymous
When someone says, "use AI," it feels more of a solution in search of a problem. Instead, it's important to think about what are the goals we're trying to accomplish in a project, and then think about our resources — including possible AI tools — and constraints and decide how a particular tool using AI might make the project more efficient or enhance something.
It's also important to remember that if AI tools are untested, that we need to give space and time into figuring out if they're actually useful. Just because something is new doesn't mean it will improve our processes, and we need to figure out how to use it, and that can take project time. Saving Changes...
When someone makes a statement like “We should use AI,” my goal is to dig into the real goal and problem we are trying to solve with the "AI".
Saving Changes...
Anonymous
If someone said “We should use AI!”, my first thoughts would be in what capacity, to accomplish what goal, and is that in scope for this project? Even if using AI would provide value, and it were in scope, if there’s not enough time or money to implement it, it shouldn’t be implemented. If, however, the intention was for project team members to improve their own work processes using AI, we’d still need to lay out what that would look like and if training, security, or access should be taken into consideration. Saving Changes...
Paul WaggonerProgram Manager| Consultant - FreelancePapillion, Ne, United States
Feb 22, 2026 7:45 AM
Replying to Sergio Luis Conte
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The first thing is to clarify what AI means. Human beings are using AI from more than 50 years ago. We are surrounded of AI entities embeded inside refrigerators, air conditioners, cell phones, etc, etc, Unfortunately in the last time some people and organizations are contributing to the general confusion using generative AI as a synonim of AI.
Good comments! A project manager should plan to spend some time exposing the team to the thought processes (way of thinking) before attempting to get AI involved. Saving Changes...
Reynaldo StanleyUCA C4I MQ-25 Program Test and Operation Team Lead| CaVU Consulting IncSAN DIEGO, CA, United States
Mar 25, 2026 9:08 AM
Replying to Dwight Clarke
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When someone says, “We should use AI,” they’re not giving you a requirement; they’re giving you a signal. From a PMI perspective, your role is to translate that into value by first asking what problem we’re actually trying to solve.. If the outcome isn’t clear, the solution shouldn’t be either. From there, identify the real need (automation, augmentation, insights, or user interaction), validate whether the necessary data actually exists and is usable, and define success in measurable terms. Only after assessing feasibility, technical, organizational, and governance constraints, should scope be defined. And in some cases, the right answer is not to use AI at all.
My first move is always to properly identify the problem to ensure we treat the sickness and not the symptoms. Once the problem is identified, then proceed with a plan. Saving Changes...
When people say, "we should use AI," conversations quickly derail because "AI" is a massive umbrella term. To tell different AI workloads apart, we need to look at the output:
Generative AI: Creates new content (text, code, images).
Predictive AI: Forecasts trends or classifies structured data (churn prediction, sales forecasting).
When everything is lumped together, organisations may end up using the wrong tools. They also misjudge budgets, mix up developer roles, and suffer from project failure. The ultimate sign that a conversation is suffering from "AI dilution" is a lack of boundaries. If a team expects a single tool to write marketing copy and predict server anomalies, it is time to pause and sort the work into its proper buckets. Saving Changes...
deepa bandPM I| Infinite Computer solutionsTroy, MI, United States
To me it typically signals one of the following - Automate — Stop wasting time on repetitive work. Analyze — if we don’t understand our data well enough. Accelerate creativity or drafting — produce more ideas or content, faster. Stay competitive — don't fall behind as other teams/companies are doing this; Saving Changes...
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