Eighty three percent of healthcare project professionals believe AI will have a positive impact in the sector, a new survey by the Association for Project Management (APM) has revealed.
The findings also show that none of the respondents who work in healthcare-related roles said it would have a negative impact, with 17% feeling its impact will be neither positive or negative.
APM surveyed almost 1,000 project professionals working across industry sectors, including healthcare and pharmaceuticals, in a poll carried out by research company, Censuswide.
The most popular reasons given for how AI will positively impact their sector were:
- Reduce project costs
- Stronger cyber security
- Assist in decision-making
- Produce more-consistent and/or timely reports
And the survey revealed the extent to which AI is already being used in healthcare projects.
Almost half (45%) of project professionals say their organisation is already using AI in projects, and 43% say their organisation is planning to use it in the near future.
Only 12% of professionals working in healthcare say their organisation does not use AI and does not plan to introduce it.
The survey also revealed the impact AI is already having on individual project practitioners.
Of those respondents whose company is already using AI technology as part of their project delivery, the majority (92%) say it has caused a change within their role or their team.
The most-common changes are:
- It has reduced project costs
- It has necessitated training/upskilling for team members
- It has strengthened cyber security
- It has enabled the production of more-consistent and/or timely reports
- It assists in decision-making
Professor Adam Boddison OBE, chief executive of APM, said: “Our latest survey shows project professionals in healthcare and other sectors are embracing AI and the impacts it is having.
“This is encouraging to see, but the implementation of new technology means project professionals will need to adapt and keep themselves updated with the rapid advancements we are seeing and adjust their skills accordingly to stay abreast of the change.
“Many survey respondents are telling us the arrival of AI has already necessitated training for them or their colleagues and we strongly urge business leaders and senior project managers who are considering implementing AI to factor in training for the intended users to ensure desired improvements to project delivery are realised.
“APM, as the chartered membership body for the project profession, recognises that AI has potential to become a significant tool for aiding project delivery now, and in the future.”
APM’s recent Salary and Market Trends survey of over 2,000 project professionals highlights the increasingly-important skills which project professionals will need to develop to take advantage of the introduction of new technology.
Communication skills (44%), project leadership (38%), stakeholder engagement (34%), people management (29%), and strategic planning and monitoring (24%) – with AI language models providing more-accurate risk analysis and insights, project managers will need to be skilled at strategic planning and risk management.
