IT and procurement managers across universities and other industries are bombarded with the latest solution offerings that include AI or are AI based. Users see these products and want them without a business case or problem to solve. The field of Project/Program/Portfolio management has been influenced by the promises of AI for years. PPM tools, like many software products, have begun to incorporate AI features that support enhanced understanding of projects and timely responses to potential issues. Additionally, it seems increasingly likely that some areas of delivery, previously considered time consuming and frustrating (e.g. risk oversight and status reporting), will be replaced by an AI agent acting as PM.

However, several problems are emerging from these trends:

• Solution led approach - seldom is the underlying problem being investigated and an appropriate solution being found.
• Selective focus - vendors are delivering use cases that frequently do not address underlying challenges but instead take advantage of available technology. We need to ask users what they need.
• Benefits understanding – the business benefits of AI are not always well understood e.g. the ability to understand how AI might best influence “success” from a Project/Program/Portfolio manager’s perspective.

We will share approaches based on understanding requirements first and then focusing on defining the business value of solutions. We support this with practical experience from vendors and qualitative interviews of project staff from different organisations, including universities. This will show an what project managers are really asking for compared to the technology offered.