I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how quickly AI seems to have crept into everything. I mean, just a couple of years ago it was a topic for tech blogs and futurists, and now… here we are. AI is drafting our emails, scheduling our meetings, even writing risk registers. Or at least trying to.
For those of us in PMO roles – whether you’re managing a team, supporting programmes, analysing data, or keeping the lights on – it feels like we’re at this odd crossroads. On the one hand, you can probably carry on without embracing AI and still do a solid job. On the other… well, ignoring it starts to feel a bit like using a paper map when everyone else has satnav.
I don’t say that to scare anyone. More just… an observation.
Why bother?
So here’s the thing: PMOs are already juggling so much – governance, reporting, making sure projects align with strategy. And AI? Well, it can actually help with all of that. In small, manageable ways.
I tried an AI-powered summariser on a 60-slide board pack the other week. Honestly? It was clunky. But it also shaved 45 minutes off my prep time. That’s not nothing.
And the more you play with these tools, the more you start to see how they might fit in. Automating status updates, spotting risk patterns, even generating a stakeholder comms plan draft. There are rough edges, sure but also a lot of potential.
The AIP Certification – is it worth it?
That brings me to the Artificial Intelligence Practitioner (AIP) certification. I’ve been looking into it, partly out of curiosity and partly because a colleague mentioned it helped her feel “less like she was winging it” when talking about AI at work.
The course covers quite a lot from the basics of what AI actually is (helpful, because sometimes it still feels like magic) through to specific PMO-related uses. Planning, risk, reporting, agile… it even touches on ethics and governance, which is a relief because that side of things does worry me a bit.
What I like about it, at least from what I can tell, is that it doesn’t assume you want to become a data scientist. It’s for people like us. PMO people. People who need to use AI without having to understand all the maths underneath.
And it’s not all theory. There are case studies, prompts, templates, links to papers, tools and so on.
A few things that stood out
There are a couple of things I didn’t expect when I started poking around the course content.
One, it’s much broader than just PMO. There are modules on AI in business analysis, change management, even cybersecurity and healthcare. That might sound irrelevant, but actually seeing how AI is used in other fields gave me a few ideas for our own work. Maybe that’s just me though. I also appreciated the background on AI and some of the links to more reading on the business impacts and how AI is growing.
Two, it’s self-paced. Which is both a blessing and a curse. Blessing because, well, who has time to sit in a classroom for three days straight? Curse because I know myself, if nobody’s breathing down my neck, it’s easy to let it slide. You’ve got a full year access so plenty of time to complete the course.
And three, there’s a big library of prompts, templates, even a glossary. That might not matter to everyone, but I appreciate having something I can dip into on a Tuesday afternoon when I need inspiration for a prompt or two.
So… should you do it?
I’m not going to tell you it’s essential. I don’t think it is. Not yet. You can carry on managing your PMO perfectly well without ever touching AI. At least for now.
But here’s what I will say: if you’re even a little bit curious about how AI can help and you’re tired of feeling like you’re guessing whenever the topic comes up in meetings it might be worth looking into.
And if nothing else, it gives you a language to talk about AI without feeling like an impostor. Which, if we’re honest, is half the battle.
The other thing I would say is that there is a LOT of stuff available to read on the web about AI right now and if you’re like me and not sure where to start or whether the sources are trustworthy, knowledgeable etc this neatly packaged offering has saved a stack of time!
A final thought
The PMO is all about bridging the gap between strategy and delivery. Keeping things moving. Making sense of the mess. AI isn’t going to do that for you but it can make it a bit easier.
I don’t think AI is replacing PMOs anytime soon. But it is reshaping what we can offer. So maybe it’s time to lean into it. At least a little.
If you decide to go for the AIP, let me know how you get on. I’ve just started, not doing too bad on the mini tests – I now know the difference between zero shot learning and reinforcement learning and I’m just about to embark on large language models – see you on the other side!
To find out more
If you want to find out more about the certification course – find out what’s included and what you can expect, read the previous blog post:
Ready to plunge in?
You can sign up to the online course here – Artificial Intelligence Practitioner Certification (AIP)
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