Paper and Presentation: Expediting Strategy Realization with AI-Enhanced Project Management
Abstract: This presentation starts with exploring the project management tasks that are already being assisted or automated by AI, the initial verdict on how AI has performed on these tasks, and what the integration of AI portends for the project management discipline and profession in the near and distant future.
We then transition to focusing on how AI can transform project management into a vital force for expediting and realizing organizational strategy, thereby elevating project managers to active partners in strategy realization. This role elevation may be an existential imperative for project managers who will increasingly need to justify their value as AI automates or assists with a growing number of project management tasks.
A July 2025 McKinsey & Company article presents data which indicates that there are three key differentiators between strategy champions and strategy stragglers: design, mobilization, and execution; and that the vast majority of organizations fall in the straggler category. We will explain how project management (traditional and agile) can harness AI in its many forms (analytical, generative, and agentic) to expedite effective strategy mobilization and execution. We will also identify and discuss the potential factors and challenges that need to be addressed in order to realize this goal; and we will present a model which incorporates qualitative and quantitative measures that can help to visualize and gauge progress towards that goal, and shed light on where course corrections are needed.
After attending this presentation, participants will be able to:
- Summarize how AI is currently automating or assisting project management tasks
- Articulate how AI integration could transform project management in the near and distant future;
- Explain how AI can be leveraged to position project management as a vital force in strategy mobilization and execution
PMI Talent Triangle: Business Acumen
Biography: Joe D’Mello founded Exequity Inc., which was a Project Management Institute Authorized Training Partner (ATP) and a management consulting & training firm focusing exclusively on boosting clients’ execution capabilities by designing innovative and nimble approaches and techniques for attaining vision-aligned and value-generating results. He has a sustained track record of successfully leading vision- and mission-critical projects, turning around troubled projects, and implementing initiatives in (and novel approaches to) process improvement, organizational agility, data analytics, organizational learning, product and new business development, change management, etc.
He began his industry career in R&D and product development at AT&T Bell Laboratories, where he was fast-tracked to an appointment as Distinguished Member of Technical Staff and thereafter appointed to various senior management positions. His vast management and consulting/training experience in the US, Europe, Asia, and Middle East span various industry segments and wide-ranging initiatives requiring the creation of synergies and efficiencies across several functional areas such as strategy, finance, marketing, sales, R&D, IT, product/business development, quality, operations, HR, etc.
Considered a thought leader and maven on execution, he has consulted for and been invited by leading corporations and reputed universities to conduct on-site training seminars which have included practitioners, managers, and executives from organizations such as Apple, Boeing, Booz Allen Hamilton, FDA, Google, HP, IBM, Leo Burnett, Microsoft, NASA, NIH, and several others: small businesses, not-for-profits, Fortune 100/500, US and foreign government organizations, defense/intelligence, etc. He has been invited to deliver keynote addresses and presentations at regional and international professional conferences.
He has received awards and frequent commendations from clients and seminar participants for imparting a very refreshing blend and balance of incisive precepts, practical experience, real life and behavioral insights, managerial and leadership perspectives and judgment, and intellectual honesty and rigor – coupled with illuminating acumen on leveraging technology and data science. In May 2013, he won the University of Chicago’s coveted Annual Excellence in Teaching Award in Business and Professional Programs, and a similar award in 2009 from the University of Maryland Global Campus MBA program. He still teaches on contract at both these universities.
He holds an Executive MBA from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management (Northwestern University) with concentrations in finance, marketing, and strategy; and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees (Math with CS minor) from Ohio State University, Columbus. He is a member of the American Society for Quality (ASQ) and the Project Management Institute (PMI); has a Master’s Certification in Project Management from Stevens Institute of Technology, New Jersey; is a PMI-certified Project Management Professional (PMP®) and Agile Certified Practitioner (PMI-ACP®); as well as a Certified Scrum Master (CSM). His expertise and experience also span six sigma, data science, AI and deep learning, various programming languages, and educational technology; as well as tools and/or skills in wide-ranging disciplines: marketing, strategy, operations, R&D, software design/development, IT, finance, etc.
He lives in Naperville, IL with his wife and three children. When not working, he enjoys interesting and insightful conversations, family fun, poetry, occasional travel, keeping fit, and exploring and realizing holistic health. He has a zest for learning as well as teaching, and likes to explore eLearning technologies.
