How To Use Top AI Project Management Tools To Boost Efficiency (2024)

When you think of artificial intelligence in the workplace, you may picture automated data entry or maybe generative AI-powered customer service chatbots. Indeed, many companies leverage AI technologies for such tasks, but dramatic AI advancements have unlocked more uses for this technology.

AI has been transforming project management by taking on complex tasks that were once the sole province of humans. From monitoring project goals to resource utilization, AI can provide data-driven insights while helping humans take on the administrative tasks that come with managing projects. Here’s a look at how project management AI works and a few top software recommendations.

How is AI used in project management?

AI is revolutionizing the project management landscape by automating routine tasks, improving decision-making, and boosting efficiency across business sectors. In doing so, AI project management tools enable project managers to focus their expertise on strategic planning and problem-solving, while AI project management software handles data-driven insights and predictive analytics.

Here are tasks artificial intelligence tools already help project managers with:

Task automation. AI can help automate repetitive tasks like scheduling, reminders, and status updates.

Research assistance. An AI tool can help you research historical data to test project ideas against documented cases, which can help you make more informed strategic decisions.

Project resource allocation. AI algorithms can analyze project requirements and team skills to help optimize resource allocation, ensuring that the right people are assigned to the right tasks.

Risk management. AI tools can analyze historical project data to identify potential risks and suggest risk mitigation strategies, improving proactive risk management.

Predictive analytics. Leveraging past project data, AI can forecast timelines, budget overruns, and resource needs, optimizing your decision-making.

Internal communications. AI-driven natural language processing (NLP) tools can analyze project documentation and communication to extract insights and highlight important information.

Team sentiment tracking. AI can monitor team communications and feedback to gauge morale and sentiment, allowing for timely interventions if issues arise. If project teams show signs of strife, the AI tool can alert human resources workers and suggest an intervention.

Performance evaluation. AI can quantify project success by tracking and analyzing performance metrics in real time. Digital project management tools can provide dashboards and reports that stack project outcomes against key performance indicators (KPIs).

Change management. AI enables decision-makers to assess the impact of their proposed changes. When project managers launch a change initiative (a transition of some type), AI tools can handle routine tasks like creating new job descriptions, implementing employee training, or recruiting externally.

Benefits of using AI in project management

Like nearly all things AI, AI-powered project management tools are designed to streamline processes, save time, and help your team focus on higher order tasks. Here are three specific benefits of using AI tools to manage your projects:

Improved project planning

When you enlist an AI tool for project planning and scheduling, it starts by analyzing historical data, external factors, and current project needs. This enables the creation of more accurate timelines and task assignments. Once the project is underway, machine learning algorithms can predict potential delays and help you adjust schedules proactively, saving time and minimizing disruptions.

Minimization of errors

Project managers use AI to minimize human errors and optimize resource allocation. While AI tools aren’t foolproof, they can leverage a vast knowledge base to suggest efficient ways to allocate budgets and skills. They can also track the progress of ongoing projects indefinitely, never needing a break. This precision and vigilance helps deliver projects on time and within budget.

Streamlined stakeholder management

AI helps manage stakeholder expectations by delivering real-time updates and predictive insights through continuous data collection. For example, if a company co-founder requests regular project updates on your project, instead of assigning a human to keep them informed, you can delegate the task to AI. A project management tool can automatically email the co-founder all the details, including budget and current milestones. This automation allows your team to focus their skills on development and innovation rather than micromanagement.

Drawbacks of using AI in project management

Artificial intelligence offers great potential in its ability to help you manage big projects, but that doesn’t mean it’s mastered the job. Here are three drawbacks to AI project management:

Over-reliance on AI

You can go too far and turn over too much decision-making authority to machines. AI-driven insights do not replace the intuition of human teams. That means that for work that requires nuanced decision-making, it’s still necessary to keep humans at the top of the org chart.

Job scope changes

The rising use of AI opens opportunities for changes in job tasks. With AI’s ability to track projects, schedule reminders, and provide updates, it’s become critical for employees to learn to adapt to work with AI tools and develop new skills. The upshot is that with AI taking on those routine tasks, there’s more time for workers to pick up those new skills.

Limits to evolving technology

While powerful, AI systems may struggle with unique or unconventional projects that don’t align with their trained data models. For instance, think of a humorous marketing campaign where quirkiness is at a premium. An AI tool might not be useful in evaluating the effectiveness of your ad copy. In such cases, human oversight remains essential to fill gaps that AI-driven research and algorithms can't effectively address.

AI-powered project management is a big industry, with expected revenues of $5.7 billion by 2028. The feature sets range from simple to complex, and the prices scale up accordingly. Here are some popular AI project management tools, including their features and pricing:

Asana

Asana is a popular and well-regarded project management tool. It’s known for its intuitive interface and powerful AI capabilities that enhance productivity.

AI features: Task automation, scheduling, progress monitoring, smart recommendations for project tasks, and prioritization based on project data.

Pricing: Asana offers a basic free tier. For true AI integration, upgrade to one of its paid tiers starting at $11 per user per month.

Monday.com

Monday.com is known for its flexibility and customization options, making it suitable for various industries, including ecommerce. It’s particularly good for team collaboration, thanks to its signature reporting dashboards.

AI features: Task assignment automation, deadline tracking, project performance analytics, and predictive analytics for balancing your team’s workload and estimating project completion dates.

Pricing: Monday’s plans start at $8 per user per month, with higher-tier plans offering more automation features.

ClickUp

With stellar user reviews and comprehensive feature sets, ClickUp stands out for its powerful AI task automation and flexibility.

AI features: AI-powered task prioritization and time tracking, analysis tools to derive key insights from project documents, and smart suggestions to optimize project timelines and resource allocation.

Pricing: ClickUp pricing starts at $7 per user per month. The platform also offers a more limited “free forever” tier that may suit personal use.

Jira

Jira, by Atlassian, is popular for its role in software development projects. Its basic tier lacks AI, but higher-level tiers feature AI integration throughout.

AI features: Goal tracking, project boards, auto-updating calendars, automated workflows, and dashboards that let you see all your endeavors at once.

Pricing: Jira starts with a free tier that can accommodate up to 10 team members. Paid plans start at $7.16 per user per month.

Trello

Highly rated for its easy-to-use UI, Trello integrates Butler AI (made by Atlassian, the parent company of both) for task automation, making it a favorite among small teams, including ecommerce startups. Trello’s free tier offers more AI functionality than many of its competitors.

AI features: Automated repetitive tasks, like moving project cards, setting due dates, and sending notifications based on triggers, as well as integration of Trello’s Butler AI into most workflows.

Pricing: Trello has a generous free plan to accommodate your entire team. Paid plans start at $5 per user per month.

Wrike

Wrike offers robust project management features and reporting capabilities. It emphasizes security, making it a strong choice for larger teams and enterprises looking for intelligent project insights.

AI features: An AI-powered Work Intelligence tool that predicts project risks—something that few competitors do as well—in addition to team performance analysis and the optimization of task assignments based on historical data.

Pricing: Wrike starts with a limited free tier and then scales up to paid plans starting at $9.80 per user per month.

Notion

Notion integrates AI features to enhance project organization and team collaboration and is a popular tool for teams of all sizes. Its innovative use of AI for content creation sets it apart: Use Notion to access popular generative AI models like Claude and GPT-4. You can “chat” with these models, glean information from them, and then create a custom Notion page based on your conversation.

AI features: Automated database sorting and filtering based on user-defined criteria, AI-driven recommendations, automatic task reminders, integrated AI chatbots for knowledge management and team collaboration, and AI support for finding files outside the Notion platform.

Pricing: Notion has a free plan, but it’s rather limited, with just seven days of page history and only 10 “guests” allowed on your project. More functional paid plans start at $10 per user per month.

Smartsheet

The spreadsheet-like interface of Smartsheet has attracted a significant customer base, especially among large enterprise-level businesses. Its AI-driven insights help teams track project progress and performance.

AI features: Document generation, automated workflows, AI generation of text and codes, plus a bevy of security and administrative tools.

Pricing: Smartsheet’s pricing starts at $9 per user per month.

AI project management FAQ

What is AI for project management?

AI for project management refers to the use of artificial intelligence to automate tasks, analyze data, optimize resource allocation, and provide predictive insights to project managers. While not required for project management, AI has the potential to enhance project planning, execution, and decision-making.

Is AI going to replace project managers?

AI is unlikely to fully replace project managers. But it is changing how they work by automating routine tasks and providing data-driven insights, allowing them to focus on higher-order tasks like strategic decision-making.

Can AI make a project plan?

Yes, AI can create project plans by analyzing requirements, allocating resources, setting timelines, and adjusting tasks using historical data and predictive algorithms.