Technology is continuously evolving. The pandemic has taught us to shift to a new reality and rethink the world on a personal and professional front. However, while the pandemic may have caused an impact unlike any we have known before, the concept of change is not new. Organizations that embrace change are more likely to thrive amidst social, technological, and environmental changes. Project Management is no exception.

This year’s Symposium will look at the changing role of the PM and how project managers can prepare for the future amidst the changes. Change is not simply about acceptance, but about thriving through a combination of preparation, skills and mindset. We will examine how Project Managers can stay relevant by embracing technology and developing the right mindset and skills.

As the world continues to grapple with the pandemic, 2022 brings new possibilities. The objectives of the Symposium include examining the role of the PM as described in the PMBOK 7th edition, overcoming obstacles to change in an organization, embracing Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, creating your niche within digital transformation, and moving forward as leaders and change agents by adopting the right mindset and skills

Six presentations, as well as networking breakout opportunities, will take place throughout the day, for a total of 6 PDU's.

Register here!

• 7 Obstacles to Overcome During Organizational Transformation by Abrar Hashmi
• Not Your Father’s PMBOK! by Joe Ursone
• Artificial Intelligence / Future of Project Management by Paul J.Clapis
• Digital Transformations and the role of the Project Manager by Sesha Bhojanapalli
• AI and ML: How to Future-proof Your PM Career by Michael Roberts
• Your Role in Making Organizational Transformations Successful by Abrar Hashmi

Topic Descriptions
(Speaker bios follow the topic descriptions)

Keynote session: 7 Obstacles to Overcome During Organizational Transformation
Abrar Hashmi

One of the funniest memes we've come across is “Who led your organizational transformation?”
a) CEO b) CTO c) CIO d) COVID-19.

The reality is that organizations have struggled with their transformation even before the pandemic. Organizational transformation is a strategic initiative to adopt Lean Ways of Working and create a culture of innovation and inclusion empowering employees, helping them build products and services faster!

In this keynote, Abrar shares seven key obstacles organizations face as part of their transformation. A holistic approach to an organizational transformation includes optimizing the full value stream including people, processes and technology. We will learn why organizational transformation is challenging, and how leadership can assist in building high-performing teams. The pandemic forced us to re-think our strategies and our roadmaps, and disrupted our execution deliveries. A people-centric approach to transformation will leave you excited and motivated to accelerate your own transformation journey!

This is a thrilling session where Abrar will share war stories from the trenches and discuss how organizations overcame major obstacles to make their transformation a success.

Not Your Father’s PMBOK!
Joe Ursone

The purpose of this session is to explore the paradigm shift from a process-based document to a principle basis for the structure and content of the latest edition of the PMBOK. We will review the rationale behind the changes in the 7th edition and walk through the contents of the Standard and the Guide. We will also review the contents of the Digital Content Platform. Finally, we will show how the new PMBOK relates to the Current PMP Examination Content Outline, which focuses on the three legs of the PMITalent Triangle.

The Learning Objectives/Outline of the session are:

• The Paradigm shift – What and Why
• New PMBoK Structure
• The Standard for Project Management
  • Intro
  • Value Delivery
  • Principles
  • A Guide to the PMBoK
  • Domains
  • Tailoring
  • Models, Methods & Artifacts
• Digital Content Platform
• How does the PMBoK 7th edition relate to the Current PMP Examination Content

Artificial Intelligence / Future of Project Management
Paul J. Clapis

The field of Artificial Intelligence isn’t new, but business interest has grown significantly due to the success of Robotic Process Automation (RPA), Chatbots, Natural Language interfaces (think of Alexa and Siri) and automated customer service applications. Recent surveys show that 80% of executives believe AI boosts corporate productivity, and the adoption of AI is expected to grow to a $10 Billion market by the end of 2025. But AI projects aren’t simple, and an experienced project manager (especially one with PMP or similar certification) is more critical than ever for a successful project.

In this presentation we will discuss:

• What is Artificial Intelligence and why are businesses so interested now?
• What do you need to know about AI and where can you learn it?
• How to add AI skills to your career -- the five steps to transformation
• Where to find your first AI project even if you have no experience

Digital Transformations and the role of the Project Manager
Sesha Bhojanapalli

1. What is Digital Transformation
2. Types of Digital Transformations
3. Role of Project Manager
4. How to build my niche as PM in digital transformations

AI and ML: How to Future-Proof Your PM Career
Michael Roberts

We all know Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) are two huge factors in the change in technology and business. But what is their impact on you? What will your job look like five years from now? Will it even exist in five, ten or twenty years? And what will happen to the organization and industry you work for?

All these questions and more can be answered in this 45-to-60-minute talk around AI and ML. We will discuss the definitions of these two terms, how they impact business and workers, and what things project managers can do today to prepare for the future.

Learning areas:

• What is Artificial Intelligence (AI)?
• What is Machine Learning and how does it apply to AI?
• A review of some real-world AI/ML projects being used today.
• Roles and skills that PMs can look to in the future

Closing session: Your Role in Making Organizational Transformations Successful
Abrar Hashmi

We have associated project managers with traditional delivery efforts; so what does a project manager do within an organizational transformation initiative?

To succeed in a volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous landscape, we need to adopt continuous planning and execution and deliver iteratively and incrementally.

Project managers need to embrace a people-first mentality, utilize a growth mindset and perform cadence-based retrospectives to achieve business-focused outcomes. We will end the session by identifying what mindset is imperative for project managers and change agents to thrive in ambiguity and achieve business agility!