What I actually use AI for as a PM
A lot of people out there are writing about how AI will transform project management. Here's what I actually use it for on a Tuesday (because most of every Monday you're stuck in a meeting).
Meeting notes
I used to spend twenty minutes after every call writing up notes, decisions, and actions. Now I get to 80% in three minutes and spend five cleaning it up. That's time I don't get back in some abstract sense; I actually use it on the next thing.
First drafts of comms
Project updates, stakeholder messages, launch announcements. I write the rough shape of what I want to say, ask AI to expand it, then cut it back down to what I actually want. Faster than starting from a blank page. Slower than I'd like, but faster than before.
Sprint backlog syncing
I have a scheduled task that pulls items from our project boards and surfaces what needs attention. It runs without me. I look at the output.
Documentation (I've been putting off)
The handover doc for a project I've been running in my head. The process write-up that would let someone else run the launch without calling me. These are things that are genuinely important and genuinely easy to deprioritise when you're busy. AI makes them faster to produce, which means I actually produce them.
What AI doesn't do:
- Make the judgment calls.
- Decide which P0 is really a P0.
- Know when a stakeholder's 'yes' will become a 'no by Friday'.
- Read the room before a difficult conversation.
The tedious, mechanical parts of the job are getting faster. That's not a threat. It's a gift, if you spend the time it frees up on the parts that actually require you.
