Failed AI schemes costing €710,000 on average, say project managers

Project Management Institute survey finds  that only 11% of recent Artificial Intelligence projects met all of their project success metrics

Ciarán Hickey, Data and Analytics and AI Labs lead, EY Ireland; Peter Glynne, president of PMI Ireland Chapter; and Jennifer Ryan, business transformation partner, EY Ireland.

Three in four project managers say that Artificial Intelligence (AI) has had a significant positive impact on the profession, but with mixed views on efficacy and cost to date.

A survey of 122 project managers carried out by the Ireland Chapter of Project Management Institute (PMI), found just 41% saying that AI is improving project completion rates and delivery times.

In terms of project completion, the average cost of failed projects in the last 12 months was €710,896.23, while only 11% of project managers’ ten most recent projects met all project success metrics of schedule, cost, project benefits and resources. The average cost of failed projects was calculated from 106 project managers who provided costs. 

Some 70% of project managers say that AI will have a permanent transformative effect on the industry, and 74% say it is driving innovation.

Almost half of project managers feel that AI will help to reduce stress in the workplace, but 72% say AI advancements have led to unrealistic expectations from stakeholders who do not understand its capabilities.

Peter Glynne, president of the Ireland Chapter of PMI, said: “Project management can of course be a high-pressure profession, but it is clear that — as well as adequate training and effective ways of working — emerging technologies like AI can streamline projects and boost success.

“In turn, this enables project managers to work smarter — the theme of our annual conference in April — as opposed to longer or harder. AI can also play a pivotal role in driving automation and innovation, something which we will be discussing at the Convention Centre next month and which makes the future of the industry very exciting.” 

Some 52% of project managers cite constraints on resources as the top cause of stress, with competing priorities (50%) and frequent scope changes (45%) as the other top causes.

Some 63% feel their workplace does have open channels of communication to discuss mental health issues such as stress, burnout, and fatigue. 

Jennifer Ryan, business transformation partner with EY Ireland, said: “Artificial Intelligence, in particular Generative AI, offers project managers the opportunity to further embed innovation and efficiency into their projects, automating routine or process driven tasks and enabling people to focus on higher value tasks and most crucially, enabling more human interactions.”

The PMI’s annual conference, the Work Smart Summit 2024 in Dublin’s Convention Centre on April 23, will discuss the future of project management and will feature David Rowan, founding UK editor-in-chief of WIRED magazine and author of the bestselling book ‘Non-Bullshit Innovation’, as keynote speaker. The event is sponsored by EY Ireland.