Rethinking leadership skills - how Agentic AI is redefining project management

Technical contribution

October 14, 2025

by Christopher Klewes

We are at a turning point in project management. Agentic AI shifts the perspective: away from micromanagement, task lists and detail-driven overviews towards overarching strategic control and decision-making.

Agentic AI - more than just a nice add-on

Agentic AI stands for autonomous, goal-oriented software agents that not only support tasks, but also plan, execute and propose or implement decisions independently. They act as active players in hybrid teams - not just as assistance tools, as a "nice add-on" or as an aimless enrichment of GenAI features. Microsoft calls companies that establish AI as a central organizational principle "frontier firms" - a model for how AI not only supplements functions, but also changes entire working methods and structures.

Just imagine: The AI contacts you when it needs a decision. If not, it works on the previously agreed visions, plans and goals - continuously and data-driven. For project and portfolio management, this means that hybrid teams of humans and AI agents will become the new standard because they take over routine tasks and create space for strategic management.

How AI agents are already creating added value today

Agentic AI is already delivering significant added value in PPM:

Automated transfer of recurring planning
Derive event-driven actions when data changes
Set risk filters to identify critical developments at an early stage

A practical example: resource planning. Where people work with static tables and isolated tools, a resource planning agent can merge real-time data on availability, project extensions or new hires, suggest sensible adjustments and even implement them directly within defined framework conditions. It recognizes patterns that are difficult for a single eye to see - overloads, skills gaps, bottlenecks - and actively asks for missing information instead of relying on inaccurate assumptions.

No trivial upgrade - the path to a self-controlling PPM ecosystem

If such agents are used in combination - such as specialized instances for risk management or data quality - a self-controlling PPM ecosystem is created. This is not a trivial upgrade, but a structural change: project managers are increasingly taking on leadership roles in which they do not primarily coordinate people, but orchestrate AI agents and evaluate their decisions. It is a classic crossingthe-chasmmoment: the challenge lies less in the technology itself than in rethinking leadership skills - from team management to the management of hybrid, agent-supported teams.

More power through hybrid teams

At the same time, it offers the opportunity to realize real competitive advantages: faster, more informed decisions, greater transparency across portfolios and projects, more efficient use of resources and ultimately greater strategic clout. Developing the ability to effectively manage hybrid teams of people and AI agents raises the bar in terms of efficiency, responsiveness and innovation.

Meet us at the cplace Day on October 23, 2025 in Munich!

Let's talk about how you can rethink your project and portfolio management with Agentic AI - and how your managers can take on the role of orchestrators of agent-supported teams. We look forward to exchanging ideas at our stand.

You can find more information here.

About the author

Christopher Klewes is Head of Project and Portfolio Management at Dataciders. With a strong background in computer science and software engineering he has been working with low-code platforms for more than 20 years. About seven years ago, he shifted his focus to project and portfolio management and has since been helping companies in complex industries to future-proof their PPM.