Information Technology Project Managers

Plan, initiate, and manage information technology (IT) projects. Lead and guide the work of technical staff. Serve as liaison between business and technical aspects of projects. Plan project stages and assess business implications for each stage. Monitor progress to assure deadlines, standards, and cost targets are met.

The occupation "Information Technology Project Managers" has an automation risk of 49.2%, which is only slightly below the base risk of 50.0%. This suggests that, overall, the role is moderately susceptible to automation but retains substantial elements that require human involvement. The near-equal risk reflects how many core tasks can be handled by software and emerging AI solutions, such as project tracking, scheduling, and adherence to budgets. These functions are often rule-based, structured, and data-driven, making them prime candidates for automation technologies. As digital project management tools and AI capabilities evolve, the automation risk for IT Project Managers may continue to creep upward. Among the most automatable tasks for IT Project Managers are: "Manage project execution to ensure adherence to budget, schedule, and scope," "Confer with project personnel to identify and resolve problems," and "Monitor or track project milestones and deliverables." Each of these responsibilities is often supported by software platforms that can automatically generate reports, flag resource or scheduling conflicts, and recommend corrective actions. Communication tools can facilitate collaboration and issue tracking, while data analytics platforms help monitor project performance against key metrics. Many of these functions have already seen significant automation, reducing the need for manual oversight and intervention. However, the role still contains significant barriers to full automation due to its reliance on tasks such as "Negotiate with project stakeholders or suppliers to obtain resources or materials," "Assign duties, responsibilities, and spans of authority to project personnel," and "Coordinate recruitment or selection of project personnel." These tasks require uniquely human skills such as negotiation, nuanced decision making, and discernment—capabilities that remain difficult for AI to replicate. Furthermore, the main bottleneck skill for this occupation is originality, with a relative importance of 3.3%. This skill, which reflects creative problem solving and the ability to devise novel solutions in complex scenarios, is not readily automatable with current technologies. Thus, while automation risk is significant, these resistant tasks and bottleneck skills help secure the ongoing relevance of the human IT Project Manager.