PMI Releases First Global Standard for AI in Project Work
The Project Management Institute published the world's first global standard for applying artificial intelligence in portfolio, program, and project management. The standard arrives as organizations deploy AI through projects faster than regulation can govern it.
Nearly every AI deployment inside an organization moves through a project. New AI systems, AI-augmented workflows, and AI-driven products are all scoped, governed, and delivered by project, program, and portfolio teams. Until now, project professionals had no published standard to guide how that work should be done.
What the Standard Covers
The standard provides eight guiding principles, five performance domains, and a complete life-cycle framework for designing, deploying, and overseeing AI initiatives. It is technology-agnostic, meaning the guidance applies across AI tools and models regardless of when they ship.
The framework requires human-in-the-loop oversight at every stage. It addresses decisions organizations face now: AI business cases, tool selection, AI-specific risk management, ethics oversight, and compliance with emerging rules like the EU AI Act and ISO 42001.
Why Now
Regulators are advancing risk-based rules. Business leaders face oversight gaps. Human rights advocates call for transparency, accountability, and inclusion by design. The governance frameworks meant to oversee AI have not kept pace with deployment.
PMI's standard gives project professionals a playbook to embed responsible AI governance into the work itself, from design and development through deployment. The standard was built on input from PMI's practitioner community, whose real-world experience shaped guidance for the practical decisions project professionals face.
Access and Availability
PMI members worldwide can download the standard free as a digital edition. Print editions are available for purchase. Non-members can access the digital edition for $74.95 or through PMI membership.
Project leaders managing AI initiatives can use this standard to drive ethical implementation and communicate decisions upstream to legal, audit, finance, technology, and business teams.
For project managers building AI skills, the AI Learning Path for Project Managers offers structured training aligned with these governance principles. Managers seeking broader AI literacy can explore resources on AI for Management.
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