Steve Maclaren - Robotics and AI in project management: The future: The APM Scotland Branch have continued the face-to-face Branch Conference series with a full day event on 7 September 2023. Considering our ever changing environment is a vital skill for a Project Manager as they bring together a wide range of knowledge and expertise to fulfil projects in an ever evolving world where data, artificial intelligence and sustainability all play an important part

1. Robotics and AI in project management: The future:
Steve Maclaren
COO The National Robotarium

2. • A New Resource adding to what already exists
• Available for all in the UK to use
• Adding new capabilities to those already available
• Offering new ways to connect
44,000 sqft/4,100 sqm
450 people capacity
Indoor and outdoor facilities
Forum capacity of 200

3. Standing on the shoulders of giants
£24M invested in the Building and Equipment
Further £15M over 3 years to get The National Robotarium established

4. The National Robotarium’s Physical Presence
People
Incubation & Colocation
Lab Space
Talent & Skills Test Facilities
Robots
Office Space
Events, Meetings & Seminars
Hot-Desks
Workshop
Robotics & Autonomous Systems (RAS)
Human-Robot Interaction
Lasers
Outdoor Test Area
User Defined
Schools
Colleges
Continuing Professional Development (CPD)
Public Engagement
Robot Systems Engineers
Academics
Researchers
Robot Technicians
Project Managers
Students
Wave Tank
Outdoor Test Area
RAS Lab
Living Labs
Spot
Husky
Pepper
iCub
Nao
UAVs
Flash
FurHat
TIAGo
…and more

5. The National Robotarium’s Reach
Industry Health &
Social Care
Finance
Robotic
Centres
Universities
Global Reach
NHS
Private
Social Housing
Research
Teaching
UK
Global
Private
Public
UK
Dubai
Malaysia
The National Robotarium Network
Energy
Healthcare
Construction
Hospitality
Agriculture
Space
Manufacturing

6. When will you be using
Artificial Intelligence in
Project management?
At least 5 years away?
between 3 to 5 years?
within 3 years?
Now?

7. Concept and acquisition
• Sales and Business development
pipeline planning
• Phase reviews
• Values
• Probability of win
• Concepts
In Service/delivered
• Delivered to customer
• In service feedback
• Continuous update and
improvements
Development
• Concept to early designs
• Modelling
• Prototyping
• Testing
• Architecture
• Electronic CAD
Manufacture
• Materials
• Sourcing
• Machine
• Production
• Scheduling
• Testing and verification
PRODUCTLIFECYCLE

8. The opportunity hopper
Gate 3: Formal proposal drafted
Technical details captured, scope defined, costs understood,
contracts, IP, T’s and C’s all captured and agreed. Clear to proceed to
live project
Gate 1: Sales, Business development, scoping phase
Identify opportunities with partners, collaborators, market intelligence
and networking activity
Gate 2: Shape the opportunity
Start mapping out the scope of the opportunity, design, requirements,
probability feasibility, viability, desirability and value estimations
01
02
03

9. Hi Bing, show me AI powered
software for sales pipeline
management?
• Answer:
• Some examples of AI-powered software that can manage your sales
pipeline are:
• **Dealcode** is an AI-powered pipeline management software
that analyzes all previous deals and forecasts your expected sales
numbers with high precision. It also assesses the state of your
sales pipeline in real-time and gives you insights into where you
can optimize your sales process. You can find more information
about this software [here](^3^).
• **HubSpot** is a CRM platform that leverages AI to help you
streamline your sales process. It can identify and score leads,
automate email campaigns, schedule meetings, track deal
progress, and provide reports and analytics. You can find more
information about this software [here](^2^).
• **Aviso** is an AI selling platform that helps you optimize your
sales pipeline and revenue. It can forecast sales outcomes,
prioritize deals, identify risks and opportunities, and provide
guidance and coaching. You can find more information about this
software [here](^1^).

10. Proposals
• Statements of work
• NDA’s
• Terms and conditions
• Exclusions, assumptions,
dependencies
• Pricing
• MOU’s
• Quotes

12. Kick off!!!

13. Introducing Microsoft
Dynamics 365 Copilot,
the world’s first copilot in
both CRM and ERP, that
brings next-generation AI
to every line of business
CRM and ERP

14. WHATEVER THE METHOD – PROJECT STATUS
WATERFALL AGILE

15. Scheduling

16. MONITOR - KPI DASHBOARD
Monitor and predict all activity
New Leads This Month
4 QUOTES
Revenue This Month
11.5 K
New Projects This Month
6 PROJECTS
Quoted > Invoiced Planned vs. Actual Time Outstanding Invoices
7.7% 96.3% 96.3%
26
%
16
%
8%
18
%
21
%
11
%
TEAM HOURS BY ACTIVITIES
ACTIVE BUDGET
PERIOD ACTUAL BUDGET STATUS DIFFERENCE
Jan 30,988 88,000 56% -123,987
Q1 45,000 23,000 25% -45,785
2020 128,900 56,000 12% -234,765
REVENUE 2019 VS. 2020
0
2
4
6
8
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
TEAM HOURS LOGGED THIS WEEK
Researcher
Customer
Person B
Person A
Partner
Customer
Small business
School A

18. Risk
Management
AI can help evaluate and mitigate
strategic risk by using natural
language processing (NLP) and
machine learning (ML) to analyse
external data sources, such as
news articles, social media posts,
customer reviews, and competitor
actions, to generate insights and
recommendations on the market
trends, customer preferences, and
competitive threats3.

19. CustomerFeedback
90%
Budget
Value for money
achieved
65%
Schedule
Delivered on time and to
quality expected
45%
Innovation
Ability to innovate
beyond original scope
55%
Facilities
All requirements met
and exceeded.
10%
Impediments
Issues that could be
improved

20. Customer
Feedback using AI
• Customer feedback
• Automated surveys
• Sentiment analysis
• Insights and action plans

21. What does this mean for
the National Robotarium?
Lifecycle management using AI:
Sales Pipeline (Salesforce)
AI powered Proposal generation (Servicekey etc)
Scenario planning/Optimisation suggestions
Automated pricing and resourcing (BCM)
Automated scheduling (Dime)
Reporting and monitoring (BCM/Power BI)
Automated Invoicing
Automated procurement
Automated supply chain
Self serve RPA (Power Automate)

22. We can now focus on continuous improvement
Better access to project status and predictability.
Improved visibility
New next generation mobile devices and hardware in
facility
Hardware refresh
Horizon scanning for best of breed.
Software and applications improvement
Team dynamics, leadership skills, professional
development
Culture ways of working

23. When will you be using
Artificial Intelligence in
Project management?
At least 5 years away?
between 3 to 5 years?
within 3 years?
Now?

24. 1997-2007 been here all along….and now
the comeback….!!!
The assistant found in Microsoft Office in
the late 90s and early 2000s is making a
return, albeit unofficially, with a The new
Clippy app brings the idea of a smart
assistant to the modern era thanks to the
power of AI, specifically leveraging
OpenAI's GPT 3.5 large language model.28
Jun 2023

25. A CONFESSION…….!!!!!!
• I would like to generate a presentation on AI in project management please Bing
• That sounds like an interesting topic. I can help you with some information and suggestions for your presentation. Here are some points you can include:
● AI in project management is the application of artificial intelligence techniques and tools to support project managers and teams in various aspects of project planning,
execution, and monitoring .
● AI can enhance decision-making, problem-solving, efficiency, and project success by analysing large volumes of data, identifying patterns, and providing insights and
recommendations .
● AI can also automate administrative tasks, such as scheduling, reporting, and communication, and free up project managers to focus on more strategic and creative
aspects of their role .
● AI can also assist in matching the right skills and responsibilities to the right resources, and help with the hiring process by engaging the most competent talent for your
project.
● Some examples of AI tools and techniques that can be used in project management are:
○ **Virtual project assistants** that can interact with project team members, provide updates, answer queries, and perform tasks using natural language processing
and chatbots .
○ **Predictive analytics** that can forecast project outcomes, risks, and issues based on historical data and machine learning algorithms .
○ **Sentiment analysis** that can measure the morale and engagement of project team members and stakeholders using text and speech recognition .
○ **Image recognition** that can monitor project progress, quality, and safety using computer vision and deep learning .
● **Virtual project assistants** that can interact with project team members, provide updates, answer queries, and perform tasks using natural language processing and
chatbots .
● **Predictive analytics** that can forecast project outcomes, risks, and issues based on historical data and machine learning algorithms .
● **Sentiment analysis** that can measure the morale and engagement of project team members and stakeholders using text and speech recognition .
● **Image recognition** that can monitor project progress, quality, and safety using computer vision and deep learning .
• I hope this helps you with your presentation. If you need more assistance, please let me know. 😊

26. Useful references
Artificial intelligence in project
management (apm.org.uk)
How AI Will Transform Project
Management (hbr.org)
https://blogs.microsoft.com/blog/202
3/03/06/introducing-microsoft-
dynamics-365-copilot/
Introducing Microsoft Dynamics 365
Copilot, the world’s first copilot in
both CRM and ERP, that brings next-
generation AI to every line of business
- The Official Microsoft Blog

27. Questions?