Our PMO Conference Debrief: AI, PMOs and the Conversations That Matter

Our colleagues, David Lean (PMO Manager) and Aisling Guerzoni (PMO Analyst) headed to the House of PMO Conference in London this year to hear what was happening across the project management community, connect with other PMO professionals and gather fresh ideas to bring back to the team.

The day covered everything from AI and portfolio management to PMO maturity, governance and resource planning. There was plenty to take in, and while not every session introduced a brand-new concept, the event sparked some valuable conversations and reinforced many of the challenges organisations are currently facing.

Here are some of our biggest takeaways.

One of the strongest themes throughout the conference was the continued evolution of the PMO.

Rather than simply providing governance and reporting, PMOs are increasingly expected to help organisations make better business decisions. Conversations focused on portfolio prioritisation, resource optimisation, organisational agility and providing leadership teams with meaningful insights rather than just project status updates.

It wasn’t necessarily a new message, but it reinforced what we’re seeing with our own customers. Modern PMOs are becoming strategic partners that help organisations decide what work should happen, when it should happen and whether they have the capacity to deliver it successfully.

It wouldn’t be a conference in 2026 without AI being front and centre.

Almost every agenda stream touched on AI in some way, from improving project reporting to supporting portfolio planning and enhancing PMO productivity.

For David, one of the biggest observations was how much the industry is beginning to align on practical use cases.

“It was encouraging to see that many organisations are exploring similar AI opportunities to the conversations we’re already having with our customers. I was hoping to discover a few completely new ideas, but it actually reinforced that the industry is focusing on turning AI into something genuinely useful rather than just talking about the technology.”

Aisling shared a similar perspective.

“AI was definitely the biggest talking point throughout the day. There were lots of discussions around where AI can support project delivery and PMOs, but the biggest takeaway for me was that many organisations are still working out how to apply it in a way that creates real value. It feels like we’re moving from hype towards practical implementation, which is an exciting place to be.”

Interestingly, one of the biggest talking points didn’t come from a keynote presentation.

It came from conversations between delegates.

Every organisation seemed to have a similar story.

Delivery teams have a project management tool they rely on.

Finance has another.

Resource managers use something different.

Portfolio teams often have their own preferred platform.

Individually, these systems work well.

The challenge comes when the PMO needs a single view of schedules, costs, resources, priorities and delivery performance.

Suddenly, Excel becomes the unofficial integration platform.

The discussions reinforced that the answer isn’t always replacing every system. Instead, organisations need to decide:

• What information belongs in each platform
• Which system is the source of truth
• How data should flow between systems
• Where portfolio decisions should ultimately be made

Without that clarity, the PMO can easily become the human integration layer instead of focusing on strategic decision-making.

As with most conferences, some of the most valuable insights came between the presentations.

Whether chatting with exhibitors or networking with other PMO professionals, the same themes kept surfacing.

Organisations across different industries are facing remarkably similar challenges:

• Delivering more with limited resources
• Improving portfolio visibility
• Connecting fragmented project data
• Understanding where AI can genuinely make a difference
• Demonstrating the strategic value of the PMO

It was reassuring to see that these aren’t isolated challenges, they’re being shared across the wider PMO community.

If we had to summarise the day, it would be this:

• AI conversations are becoming more practical and outcome-focused.
• PMOs continue to evolve from governance functions into strategic business partners.
• Connected, reliable project data remains one of the biggest challenges organisations face.
• Resource planning and portfolio prioritisation are still high on every PMO’s agenda.
• Some of the best learning comes from conversations with peers experiencing similar challenges.

One thing the conference reinforced is that organisations don’t need AI for the sake of AI, they need solutions to real business challenges.

That’s exactly the approach we’re taking at CPS.

Rather than starting with technology, we start with understanding our clients’ goals, challenges and ways of working. From there, we help organisations identify where AI can genuinely make a difference, whether that’s through Microsoft Copilot, intelligent automation or custom AI agents designed around their PMO and project delivery processes.

We’re working with organisations to explore how AI can support everything from portfolio reporting and resource planning to project governance, knowledge management and decision-making—always with a focus on delivering measurable business outcomes.

For us, AI isn’t about replacing people; it’s about giving PMOs better information, reducing manual effort and helping teams focus on higher-value work.

If you’re starting to explore AI within your PMO or project delivery environment, we’d be happy to share what we’re seeing across the market, discuss practical use cases and explore how AI could support your organisation’s unique challenges.