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The recently released Project Management Body of Knowledgement, PMBOK ®, Guide 7th Edition, reveals a growing emphasis on change management, with more than 30% more content on communications and stakeholder engagement compared ot the 6th Edition. As projects aim to deliver change across organizations, project managers are increasingly responsible for easing transitions. For more evidence on PMI’s commitment to change management, you can look no further than the fact that it took up more than 24 key sessions at the PMI Global Summit. Change management knowledge paired with soft skills like empathy and influence are now core PM competencies.

 

Artificial intelligence promises to transform project oversight. Although AI currently plays a limited role, its project management applications are rapidly expanding. AI can synthesize real-time status reports, allowing PMs to focus less on administrative work and more on strategies for results. It also enables advanced risk forecasting and automated responses when threats emerge. PMI offers a free AI fundamentals course guiding PMs to capitalize on these emerging capabilities, which you can find at: https://www.pmi.org/shop/p-/elearning/generative-ai-overview-for-project-managers/el083

 

Diversity, equity, and inclusion shape far more than team composition. It encompasses how leaders empower marginalized voices, mitigate bias, and create psychologically safe environments where people feel valued. DEI directly impacts employee retention and performance. Our recent FWPMI speakers, Jessica Atkinson and Kuma Roberts helps PMs improve their awareness in this critical area. By following their LinkedIn pages and reviewing their websites, https://wilbeffect.com/ and https://arrowheadspeakers.com/kuma-roberts/, you can learn more about how to be an inclusive project manager and impactful leader.

 

The growing focus on these three trends together signal an evolution in the project manager's role. As AI shoulders more administrative burdens, PMs will need elevated stakeholder communication abilities to drive change adoption and guarantee intended ROI is achieved. Without recognizing marginalized influencers, buy-in and usage suffer regardless of technological capabilities. Ultimately, AI affords leaders more capacity to have empathy, earn trust, understand biases, and coach their organizations through transitions. Leaner workflows via automation combined with culturally intelligent leadership produces the stakeholder relationships essential for project implementations to become true organizational transformations rather than abandoned software. The project manager of tomorrow must leverage AI to focus less on tactical oversight and more on enabling people to believe in, contribute to, and champion initiatives transforming the status quo. The technology, methodologies and soft skills must converge for project success rates to improve in volatile times.