Lessons from an EPMO’s
SECOND EDITION
By Greg Saunders
Texas, USA
Introduction
OpenAI made generative artificial intelligence available to all on November 30, 2022 when it launched ChatGPT (chat-based generative pretrained transformer). Since then, individuals, businesses, and governments have striven to leverage GenAI’s features to increase productivity and efficiency while protecting their own information and market advantages.
Project managers and project management offices (PMOs) seek the same productivity and efficiency gains, but how do they get them? One approach is having regular meetings for project managers (PM), business analysts (BA), and enterprise PMO leaders to discuss the trends, merits, and use of GenAI in the project management domain. One EPMO held over twenty-five semi-monthly discussion sessions on how to incorporate GenAI into its operations. They tested GenAI features such as project-management GenAI prompts for business cases, charters, schedule analysis, critical path identification, requests for proposal; wrestled with GenAI contentious points including Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) integrating computers with the human brain, GenAI-enabled destructive weapons—armed robot dogs, how to use GenAI to keep our jobs; and discovered how to leverage GenAI features for their company, profession, and career.
As generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) complements project managers and business analysts, PMs, BAs, PMOs, EPMOs, and companies, all of them need to adopt AI-related best practices and change their cultures to leverage them. Starting with Project Management Institute’s best practices for leveraging GenAI, anyone attempting to leverage GenAI can build on that foundation and tailor-build an approach for adopting GenAI to his/her context.
Best Model to GenAI-Assisted Project Management
While not the only model available to implement GenAI-assisted project management, Figure 1 shows PMI’s® GenAI Hybrid Model (Project Management Institute, 2024). This Hybrid Model offers an approach that guides users on how to approach scenarios that would benefit greatly from GenAI, scenarios that still require a great deal of human interaction, and scenarios between the two.
Figure 1: PMI’s® GenAI Hybrid Model
The model’s vertical axis deals with the task complexity and its horizontal axis suggests the entity, machine or human, that should do the task. On the far left, machine-based automation is preferred since a GenAI system will conduct analysis repeatedly and error-free without tiring, becoming bored, or getting distracted. On the far right, a human is necessary due to the nuance involved in the type of work and the need to consider other contextual information such as non-published goals or personnel relationship issues that only humans know.
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Editor’s note: Second Editions are previously published papers that have continued relevance in today’s project management world, or which were originally published in conference proceedings or in a language other than English. Original publication acknowledged; authors retain copyright. This paper was originally presented at the 17th Project Management Symposium at the University of Texas at Dallas in May 2025. It is republished here with the author’s permission.
How to cite this paper: Saunders, G. (2025). GenAI in Action: Lessons from an EPMO’s Experimental Journey, presented at the 17th University of Texas at Dallas Project Management Symposium in Richardson, TX, USA in May 2025; republished in the PM World Journal, Vol. XIV, Issue VIII, August. Available online at https://pmworldjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/pmwj155-Aug2025-Saunders-GenAI-in-Action-Lessons-from-a-PMOs-Experimental-Journey.pdf
About the Author
Greg Saunders
North Texas, USA
Greg Saunders is a Disciplined Agile Senior Scrum Master and PMP serving at the Army and Air Force Exchange Service, the Exchange, which is an $7B international retailer for America’s Soldiers, Airmen, and Guardians. He’s currently the manager of the Exchange’s Program and Project Portfolio Governance office, setting policy for and managing a $511M portfolio of 90 programs, projects, and initiatives. Previously at the Exchange he 1) served as PMO head with a team of 22, 2) served as the lead PM for the Exchange’s largest program—replacing the accounting systems; 3) worked with PM, governance, and system analyst leads to architect the transformation of the Exchange’s program management approach; 4) served as the systems portfolio manager of 51 primary HR, payroll, & data warehouse systems; and 5) served as the PMO head for a 16-person team managing a $150M portfolio of 60 projects.
Prior to joining the Exchange, he ran a $2.5M/year business in a top-tier consultant firm. During his USAF career he re-established the Denver-based Air Reserve Personnel Center’s (ARPC) PMO; led the upgrade to ARPC’s portion of the Air Force Personnel Center’s call center that supports over 6 million reservists, retirees, and their surviving spouses; and as a colonel at the Pentagon served as both the USAF Reserves Comptroller and the Reservist to the AF CIO Director for Cyberspace Capabilities and Compliance, overseeing a team of 60 managing the USAF’s cyberspace capabilities, policy, and compliance. Over his 35-year career he has also become a Certified Agile Practitioner, been certified in ITIL Foundation, and been certified by the Air Force as a Lean, Six Sigma Black Belt. He can be contacted via Linked at https://www.linkedin.com/in/greg767/.
To view previous works by Greg Saunders, visit his author showcase in the PM World Library at https://pmworldlibrary.net/authors/greg-saunders/
[1] The views presented in this paper are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of the U.S. Department of Defense or its Components. Other than this paper’s title, GenAI was not used to generate this paper.
[2] Greg’s live presentation at the May 2025 UT Dallas PM Symposium can be viewed at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xojunipSWH4
