Automation has been disrupting industries for years, and project management is no exception. As more companies adopt technologies like artificial intelligence and machine learning, the need for human intervention in certain roles may diminish. In this article, we'll take a look at the potential impact of automation on project managers over the next several years:
2023-2025: 10-15% of PM jobs lost. Basic scheduling, resource allocation and reporting tasks are automated. Entry-level, administrative PM roles begin decreasing.
2026-2030: 25-30% of PM jobs impacted. AI handles most routine PM functions. Mid-level PMs must learn new skills as jobs combine or change focus. New roles emerge around managing AI systems and data analysis.
2031-2035: 40% of PM jobs redefined or replaced. AI proves superior for optimizing schedules, budgets and work plans at scale. Implementation of large AI tools across enterprises. Many traditional PM jobs phased out or reshaped to support digitization and tool deployment.
2036-2040: 50% of PM jobs eliminated or new jobs in data, AI. Strong PM job competition. Salaries for new data-centric PM roles increase as demand for these skills outstrips supply. Education programs struggle to adapt quickly enough. Growing concern over job losses.
2041-2045: New types of AI-powered organizations emerge. Models with few human PMs rely on automated planning and performance monitoring. Project work moves faster and becomes highly data-driven. Some projects run with almost end-to-end automation.
2046-2050: AI systems with advanced machine learning start modeling highly complex projects. A small number of specialist PM jobs remain to support AI, address ethical issues and provide human judgment where needed. Most traditional PM jobs gone. Radically transformed workforce and new operating/leadership models in many industries.
The future remains hard to predict precisely, but the trend seems clear - much of project management is destined to be automated. But for proactive leaders, this also brings opportunity to help shape new ways of working at the forefront of their organizations and fields.By observing technology trends and learning new skills today, we can begin to craft a vision for the discipline and understand our place and possibilities within it as progress unfolds. The future starts now with our openness to change and willingness to meet it. We all have the power and responsibility to think critically about how to evolve PM and prepare rising generations of practitioners for technology's consequences, both positive and perilous. There is no time like the present to get building - and make our shared future great.
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