Project Management in an AI-Focused World Q&A Part 2
During last week’s webinar, we received a few questions that we didn’t have time to address. Here are some thoughts on those questions.
One attendee requested further information on standing up benefits/value realization. Benefits realization is one of the areas where we see the most potential for AI advancement, and also an area with the most room to improve. In our State of Project Management 2026 research, benefits realization was among the least effective PMO practices (2.8 out of 5), ahead only of incorporating AI into PMO practices (2.5). The difference between high and low performers is large. High-performing organizations score 3.7 on portfolio benefits management, compared with 2.0 for low performers. Closing that gap starts with the PMO taking a leadership role, which means structuring project management processes correctly and, most importantly, launching projects with benefits realization in mind first. If expected benefits, success measures, and ownership aren’t all defined at the start, there’s nothing meaningful to track later, for AI or anyone else.
The second key is data. AI can be a powerful way to track benefits across a portfolio, connect project outcomes to business results, and flag when expected value is at risk. If AI tools are tracking benefits based on bad data, however, it won’t add much value. Poor data quality is already cited by 37% of organizations as an AI challenge, and 28% say tracking benefits is a challenge in and of itself. All of this points back to getting the foundation right first. That means having a defined benefits framework, consistent measures across projects, and disciplined data collection throughout the project lifecycle. Once that structure is in place, AI can turn benefits realization from a one-time, after-the-fact exercise into continuous visibility into the value projects are delivering.
How is AI impacting PMaaS? One of the main reasons organizations choose PMaaS is to partner with a project management firm that can bring discipline to resource capacity and demand planning. Our State of Project Management 2026 research provides significant insight into why this matters. Inadequate resource management, meaning not having enough staff to cover all of the organization’s projects, is the number one PMO challenge, cited by 57% of organizations. Allocating project resources optimally was also the lowest-scoring of the eight performance measures (2.7 out of 5). AI-supported practices are especially well suited with helping these types of issues. They can forecast demand across the portfolio, spot capacity gaps before they put projects at risk, and match available skills to upcoming work. The right PMaaS partner can then use those insights to scale project management resources up or down with much more accuracy and speed than traditional planning allows.
For many of our clients, the value of PMaaS goes far beyond adding capacity. Most organizations are still working out AI itself: 63% say integrating it into existing workflows is their biggest AI challenge. A PMaaS partner brings experienced project managers who already apply AI-enabled practices, along with proven methods, tools, and templates. The client has access to those benefits without having to build that capability in-house. This also really highlights the benefit of a PMaaS partner who can help strategically manage the organization’s project capacity.