Ebook

How the PMO can lead

Projectum

the AI revolution_
2024
01 Identifying Business Cases
02 Defining AI Procedures
03 Change Management
04 Don’t forget training
05 Leading by example
Introduction
While the adoption of AI is widespread, company policies often lag
How the PMO can lead behind.

the AI revolution Most AI use is still stuck in small productivity gains that allow the
individual person to work faster, such as generating bits of text or
code rather than realizing the full potential of AI.

Without formal AI initiatives and company processes, you risk

losing out on the organizational benefit of AI, from innovation to a
deeper understanding of data.

Technology isn’t going to solve anything on its own. Someone must

see the business cases and value that it can add – and that could
be the PMO.

This guide is for the committed PMO who sees the potential of AI
and wants to spread the benefit throughout the organization.
“77% Of Employees Report AI Has
Increased Workloads And Hampered
Productivity”
How the PMO can lead the AI revolution

Identifying Business Cases

1/4

The first step in leveraging AI is recognizing Identify existing Do market research Engage your stakeholders
where it can add the most value and pain points:
The benefit of AI can vary
defining business cases. This requires Whether it’s resource There are a lot of AI products greatly depending on the
combining a deep knowledge of strategy bottlenecks, inefficient and solutions already on the team and the job functions.
and current work processes combined processes, or information market. Increasingly, AI is being Developers are typically
with potential in the market. overload, every organization included as a component of leading in AI whereas other
has its own pain points. This standard industry solutions. departments may be more
is a great place to start when reluctant.
By systematically identifying and evaluating looking at potential business Looking at what exists is a great
business cases for AI, the PMO ensures cases: it’s quick gains for indicator of what can be done It’s essential to identify the
that efforts are aligned with organizational already existing problems. with AI and potential business different stakeholders and
cases for the PMO. Look for identify their unique challenges
goals and that resource investments are tools with strong AI capabilities, and issues when it comes to AI.
justified. it’s like a cheat sheet that shows
you what can give you value. This is also a great opportunity
The PMO can lead this effort by ↗ to listen to the people already
working with AI. How are
they using it, which learnings
have they had, and what are
they dreaming of? There
might already be successful
applications of AI that can be
adopted on a larger scale.
Identify your top 3 business cases
There’s a lot of places where AI can give both immediate and long-term value.
As you define your business cases choose 1-3 that you want to focus on.

Make sure they’re:

↗ Inspirational: choose a business case that excites people and that the
company can see the value of.
↗ Technologically feasible: your business cases should be technologically
feasible both in terms of the AI technology but also in terms of your current
technologies: do you have the necessary data and technological set-up to
handle this AI implementation?
↗ Scalable: Good AI use cases bring value short-term but are also scalable long
term.
How the PMO can lead the AI revolution

Defining AI Procedures
2/4

Once AI initiatives are identified, it’s up to Risk Management: Developing Frameworks: Governance Structures:
the PMO to establish clear procedures
Establish protocols for Create standardized Implement governance
that ensure consistency, efficiency, and identifying and mitigating risks frameworks for AI use. These structures to oversee AI
compliance. Defining AI procedures helps associated with AI projects, should be tailored towards the initiatives, ensuring compliance
in training and user adoption because they such as data privacy issues or specific user and their issues with ethical standards and
act as guidance. algorithmic biases. so it becomes clear what they regulatory requirements. As
should do, how they should do part of this, it should be clear
it, the benefits, as well as any how you will measure the
potential pitfalls that should be performance of the new AI
taken into account. initiative, e.g. by creating KPIs.
The AI revolution isn’t just about technology
Any new technology is a potential for transforming the way you do things.

Are we truly doing things better or are we just doing the same thing faster?

When thinking about where to implement AI, it’s an opportunity to look at your
business processes and evaluate whether they provide the value you are
aiming for.

Is this a good process that can deliver value faster with AI?
Or does the use of AI eliminate the need for it, in the first place?

In the end, it comes down to what results you are trying to deliver. AI is just part
of how you get there.
How the PMO can lead the AI revolution

Change Management
3/4

New technology brings worry to Create a communication Plan Engage your stakeholders Show that you’re listening
organizations. AI-driven transformations
Create a clear communication Engage your stakeholders by Feedback is your opportunity to
have a bad reputation and a lot of plan with a timeline for enlisting several sponsors that show you’re listening. Champion
uncertainty. It requires significant changes various activities. Take all your can help create positive vibes the positive feedback and take
in processes, culture, and mindset. stakeholders into account and around the new procedures. the negative feedback seriously
make sure they are up to date It’s a great way to gather by making the necessary
about the AI initiatives, their feedback and spot and alleviate adjustments, whether the
Effective change management ensures benefits, and their current potential issues - whether problem is with technology or
that AI projects are not just implemented process. they’re technological or based procedure.
but are embraced and used to their full on user resistance.
potential by the organization.

The PMO plays a critical role in managing

this change by ↗
How the PMO can lead the AI revolution

Common
roadblocks to AI “AI will take my job.”
“AI steals all my data,
and I have no control.”
While the concern that AI will make your job obsolete is not as AI requires a lot of data and people are, rightly, nervous about
prevalent as it once was, it’s still a concern and it’s important which data you’re collecting, how, and whether it’s possible to
to address that. AI is a tool in the employees’ toolbox so they opt out. There are services, such as Azure OpenAI, who don’t
can focus on the parts of the job where their expertise and use your data for additional training. However, you should
passion can shine. always have a clear data policy in place – especially if you’re
working with sensitive information.

“AI doesn’t know what it’s

Not everybody is excited about AI.
“AI makes bad things worse.” talking about.”
There’s a variety of reasons for this
and each one should be taken seriously
and addressed. This is about creating While AI-tools, like ChatGPT, do function on statistical
AI will have biases if it’s trained on skewed data. Whether it’s
a better foundation for work and a probability they are a success precisely because they are
due to preexisting human biases or inconsistent datasets,
stronger outcome and people should very good. A lot of human work is repetitive or has patterns
it’s hard to avoid. Communicate clearly how you will be aware
feel safe and on board if you want to get that we can learn from.
of and work with the biases to avoid distorted outputs and
anywhere. The PMO should know which products they’re choosing,
potentially harmful outcomes.
how they work and why they will provide value – and always
You should always listen to the specific use them in combination with your own knowledge and
worries in your organization, but here experience.
are some common fears that you can
answer up front.
100 % 75 % of global Knowledge Workers use AI,
yet only 5% of business have used AI in the
past fortnight in U.S.A.
75 %

5% The Economist
What happened to the artificial-intelligence revolution
How the PMO can lead the AI revolution

Don’t forget training

4/4

The successful adoption of AI technologies Never stop learning Conduct relevant training Consider hiring experts
hinges on the skills and knowledge of the
Promote a culture of Figure out what people know There are a lot of relevant
workforce. It takes time to get people on continuous learning, about AI and create training educational institutions, training
board with AI and the PMO should invest in encouraging employees to plans tailored to the different providers, and AI experts to
training to ensure that people know how to stay updated with the latest roles and levels that exist. The deliver high-quality training
work with it, see examples, and explore the AI trends and advancements training programs should be a that can help tailor the training
through workshops, webinars, combination of technical skills depending on the level and
technology in a safe environment. and courses. (e.g., data analysis and machine business case.
learning) and soft skills (e.g.,
The PMO can lead training efforts by ↗ critical thinking and problem- Hiring an external expert can
solving). help highlight potentials and
be a shortcut to successful
implementation of AI in your
organization.
Low-code kickstarts the revolution
The AI revolution is being enabled by the advanced low-code
opportunities for creating custom AI.
With tools like Microsoft Copilot Studio, it’s easy to create
agents, that is small copilots that you can configure and share
with your coworkers and organization – and of course keep
your data safe.
How the PMO can lead the AI revolution

Leading by example

The number one way for the PMO to spark

AI innovation is leading by example.

The PMO can follow the exact same

process, starting by identifying solid
use cases for the PMO and creating an
implementation process.

Most importantly, demonstrating long-

term use and value gain in the PMO with AI
tools is a great way to show the rest of the
organization that AI is here to stay.
Ready to begin?
Get in touch and tell us about your AI
challenges – we’re happy to help. You can
book our AI-booster here.

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