Where AI is Actually Changing the Project Manager's Role (not just the role, but the job itself)

About this event

Agenda :

11:45am - Webinar activated, casual networking

12:00pm Welcome and Introduction

12:05pm Presentation

12:45pm Q&A

12:55pm Wrap Up

Event Details :

Every conversation about AI and project management starts in the same place: new tools, faster scheduling, smarter dashboards. That's not where the real change is happening.

This session goes past the tool list to ask a harder question: as AI takes over more of the mechanical work of project management — status tracking, scheduling, basic risk flagging — what's left for the project manager to actually do? The answer isn't "less." It's different, and in some ways, harder.

Drawing on his research into why well-planned projects stall at the point of execution and how PMs lead effectively without formal authority, Dr. Watson will walk through:

• What AI genuinely automates well in project work today — and where it confidently gets things wrong

• Why the PM's real value is shifting toward judgment, communication, and change leadership — the parts of the job AI can't do

• What this means for how PMs should be building their skills right now, not five years from now

• How organizations should be rethinking what they train PMs to do as the tool-based work shrinks

The session runs as a 45-minute presentation followed by open Q&A.

Speaker:

Dr. Brian Watson, Ed.D, MHA, MPH, PMP

Professor, Raj Soin College of Business, Wright State University

Speaker Bio :

Dr. Brian Watson is a project management professor at Wright State University's Raj Soin College of Business. Prior to joining Wright State University, he built his career as a healthcare operations and financial executive, leading multimillion-dollar projects across local, state, and federal organizations. His research focuses on why well-planned projects stall at the point of execution and how project leaders succeed without formal authority over the teams they need to move. Today he works directly with growing organizations, designing and delivering hands-on project management training that turns communication, organization, and change management into practiced habits — not just theory.

PDUs : 0.5 Ways of Working & 0.5 Power Skills