IQI and Gofore: building project managers’ AI capabilities through practical application

The training did not focus on individual tools or prompts. Instead, it aimed to broaden the project managers’ professional capabilities at a time when AI is changing both project work and the role of the project manager.

The training was designed as a three-stage learning process. It began with a one-day, in-person workshop where participants deepened their understanding of how AI can be used in project work and practised applying it to the project manager’s core responsibilities.

After the workshop, participants took what they had learned into their own projects and experimented with AI in real-life work situations. During the follow-up session, the group reviewed their experiences, successes, challenges and lessons learned together.

The training focused particularly on developing the participants’ ability to use AI to analyse project situations, support planning and decision-making, identify risks, engage stakeholders and lead people. Another key objective was to strengthen their ability to evaluate AI-generated content critically while continuing to rely on their own professional judgement.

Combining the workshop and practical application made AI part of the team

The training strengthened Gofore’s technical project managers’ ability to make more sophisticated use of AI tools. This included analysing their own work, supporting decision-making and identifying new use cases.

Rather than concentrating on theory, the training was built around practical exercises, which the participants found particularly valuable.

“The combination of the workshop and the practical application period that followed worked well. Our participants gained concrete use cases and began to see AI as a member of their team, not just as a tool. It was particularly valuable that the content was tailored to the day-to-day work of technical project managers instead of being generic AI training.”

Matti Salonen
Lead Specialist, Gofore

For IQI trainer Mika Purola, it was essential that the training should develop more than the project managers’ ability to use AI tools. It also needed to strengthen their broader professional capabilities.

“AI can already support planning, analysis, risk identification and the production of materials. This means that asking the right questions, evaluating outputs critically, making decisions and leading people are becoming increasingly important capabilities for project managers.”

Mika Purola
Lead Consultant, IQI

The combination of an in-person workshop, practical application and a follow-up session proved particularly effective in achieving the objective. Instead of simply hearing what AI could be used for, the participants tested it in their own work and began to develop their own ways of working with AI as project managers.

“That, to me, is how genuine capability is built,” Purola says.

Image from Gofore’s image library. Photographer: Antti Rastivo.