Project Management Scholarship Winning Essay Article 2 of 3

Thank you to all of the students who submitted essays for our 2023/2024 Project Management Scholarship. The topic this year was

"How do you think artificial intelligence will best benefit the project management industry in the next 5 years? What risks do you see with artificial intelligence for project management?"

Congratulations to our 3 winners, whose essays we are excited to showcase in a three-part article series. Second up is Alexandra Rivera. Please enjoy Alexandra's essay below.

     Artificial intelligence (AI) is taking the world by storm. In the next 5 years, it seems that businesses will actively seek to rely on its prowess to gain insights that can give them a better edge in the competition. Project management is an important process that allows business to coordinate resources and actions to organize and plan the steps needed to achieve a desired goal. This process stands to benefit from AI because of AI’s ability to follow logical patterns and analyze large amounts of data quickly, which are two components essential for businesses to make decisions that can help them streamline operation needs, improve customer relationships, and enhance their ability to assess and manage risks.

     The main goal of a business should always be to create value. In order for businesses to achieve this objective, they must operate efficiently, so that their processes do not hinder the experience of the customers they serve or compromise the quality of the product or service they are committed to providing. It is because of this that streamlining operations remains such an important recurrent goal for businesses seeking long-term success and sustainability. AI would be a helpful tool for a project manager who is seeking to organize a way for a business process to be more efficient because it could help identify repetitive and time-consuming actions, such as data entry and document management, and even serve as an instrument for automation. This is due to AI’s ability to recognize patterns within a process that it can later analyze to find the best way to optimize manual effort and free up valuable time for strategic decision-making and innovative thinking.

     The purpose of a business is service. Businesses exist to provide their services to customers who are eager to obtain solutions to their needs, desires, and challenges. By offering valuable products or services, businesses strive to satisfy customers demands, aspirations, and improve their quality of life. This relationship shows that there is an intimate bond that exists between businesses and their customers. Without this bond, a business cannot sustain its existence. AI would be a helpful tool in project management because it could enhance communication between businesses and customers. This is because “AI technologies help marketing teams improve their customer relationship management (CRM) programs by automating routine tasks like the preparation of customer data” by analyzing customer data and understanding customer’s individual needs businesses can nurture those relationships with targeted marketing to sustain customer’s loyalty long-term (Flinders, 2023). In this context AI can is also helpful in assisting project managers with gaining unique insights about what kind of services customers are interested in and plan ways in which the business can get closer to fulfilling those needs. This is due to AI’s ability to analyze large amounts of raw data and contextualize the information into relevant insights. Running

     Running a business is a bold endeavor that is full of inherent uncertainties and challenges that can risk its ability to maintain prosperity and longevity in a market. As a result of this reality, it is very important for businesses to assess and plan for the mitigation of the possible risks they will encounter as they establish themselves. Project management and risk management are closely related because they both must assess, identify, and organize a plan to support the realization of a specific goal. By using AI, project managers can enhance risk management processes by automating the identification and analysis of potential risks, predicting future risks based on historical data, and providing insights to develop effective risk mitigation strategies. This is because AI can provide accurate reports that based on the information supplied, can help project managers make data-driven decisions that can increase the effectiveness of the strategies they apply to address risks, thus increasing the likelihood of successful risk mitigation.

     As we move into the future, it is evident that the use of AI will continue to rise as more industries will find ways to benefit from its capabilities. Businesses who are engaging in the use of AI are positioning themselves to experience high levels of success and prosperity. However, amidst their growth, they must remain vigilant so that they can properly address the potential challenges ethical and cybersecurity threats that will emerge. Most importantly, businesses must prioritize the protection of consumer privacy, as the handling of sensitive data becomes increasingly complex with the introduction of AI to day-to-day operations.

     As previously mentioned, a healthy customer bond is the lifeblood of a successful business. The use of AI to enhance communication strategies involving customer information will create issues for businesses to properly maintain the privacy of that information, that up until now, was only supposed to be used for internal processes. This issue has prompted activist to urge the government to take action for “[…] passing the American Data Privacy Protection Act to address rampant privacy concerns surrounding artificial intelligence and advanced algorithms across sectors […]” (Beavins, 2023). This will mean that businesses who fail to properly maintain the privacy of customer information can face serious consequences, including legal penalties, lawsuits, damage to the business’ reputation, and loss of customer’s trust.

     In relation to project management, these considerations will add complexity to the way in which businesses plan their strategies. Deep and costly assessments will become necessary to ensure compliance with the legal regulations that will govern and restrict the ways customer data is handled with AI. This will lead to extended deadlines for projects, impacting project schedules and resource allocation. Moreover, businesses may need to create new positions and hire personnel whose function is simply to ensure that the business is compliant with AI privacy legislations that will continue to arise as it becomes imbedded into the fabric of social function.

References:

Beavins, E. (2023). E&C URGED TO PASS ADPPA TO ADDRESS AI DATA PRIVACY
ISSUES. Inside Washington Publishers’ Inside CMS, 26(43).
Flinders, M., & Flinders, M. (2023, October 6). AI in marketing: How to leverage this powerful
new technology for your next campaign. IBM Blog. https://www.ibm.com/blog/ai-in-marketing/

Alexandra Rivera

Alexandra is the Assistant Registrar at Mohawk Valley Community College in Utica, NY. She is also the mother of a 5-year-old boy and is currently attending Bellevue University to complete a Master of Science in Management Information Systems. Her aspiration is to someday become a Chief Information Officer, as her experience in the Office of Records and Registration at MVCC has ignited a very strong curiosity and respect for the important role that record management plays in the success of organizations and the lives of people.   The pursuit of her career goals and aspirations is driven by a deep personal motivation to live a better life as she migrated to the United States from the Dominican Republic at 11 years old, and that experience has left her with a profound desire for stability.