I see the future of project management as a dynamic and pivotal force in shaping society. First and foremost, I believe project management will play an instrumental role in driving innovation and progress across various industries. As technology continues to advance at an unprecedented pace, the need for adept project managers to guide complex initiatives will only intensify. Moreover, project management will become even more intertwined with sustainability and social responsibility. With mounting environmental concerns and an increased focus on corporate social responsibility, project managers will be at the forefront of driving initiatives that not only deliver results but also have a positive impact on the planet and communities at large.

Despite all the hype about data, analytics, and primarily AI, it must be clear that people remain the key factor in projects. AI has zero value without data, and data has zero value if people are not bought into data as a concept. In the end, data is produced through people’s activities. That could be project plans, RAID logs, stakeholder maps, etc., but also presentations, meetings, reports, lessons learned, and so forth. Everything is data that we as people produce and need to feed into a data ecosystem for us to make continuous use of growing information and knowledge. And with such a workable data ecosystem, meaningful analytics can be applied that produce valuable insights for our project decisions.

The thing that has impressed me the most at PMI is its extraordinary community and the enormous impact its members make around the world. PMI reaches so many different industries and is at the heart of corporate and global transformation. It is quite an exciting time in PMI’s history, with a continued emphasis on globalizing, digital transformation, and scaling our impact. As I’ve met with members, volunteers, and certification holders around the globe, I’ve been struck by the consistent passion and enthusiasm they all demonstrate for the community.  People are so engaged with PMI because it satisfies many needs at the same time. It acts almost like a family at times. It’s also an ecosystem providing a wide range of offerings and capabilities – thought leadership, trainings, certifications, and more to satisfy intellectual curiosity. Above all, I’m proud that we have a clear ‘for purpose mentality.’

Interview with Priya Patra conducted by Aneta Wereszczak. Priya, at PMI Mumbai Chapter, you perform a role of the Vice President – Outreach. Please tell us more about that role. Thank you for the question. I lead the Outreach portfolio within the PMI Mumbai Chapter. We a group of 20 volunteers are engaged in reaching out to Corporates, Non-Profits and Youth to evangelize Project Management.