AI is being sold as the shortcut to savings BUT without the right IT delivery capability, it can quickly become a fast-track to failure.
“The CIO has never mattered more. As businesses shift from experimentation to execution in the age of AI, CIOs are stepping into their most strategic role yet.” State of the CIO Survey 2025
Amen!
Delivering IT Projects has never been without its challenges: Expectations from the top, shifting priorities, conflicting objectives, talent gaps …
… and now, there’s the AI hype wave and the accompanying paradox: The tech that’s meant to streamline workflows and reduce cost has piled on the pressure and perhaps the price tag too.
AI COST SAVINGS
Boards want fast returns on their AI investment, especially cost savings.
The struggle is real! I just helped mediate tensions between a CIO and CFO who were asked to prepare a PowerPoint Presentation on “AI Savings” but had very different perspectives. It flagged six interesting observations:
- AI = More Complexity
AI adds layers: data, models, ethics, risks. More moving parts = more PM oversight.
- Expectations Skyrocket
Faster, smarter, cheaper? Maybe. But someone has to manage the hype vs reality.
- Automation Needs Supervision
AI can plan a timeline. But it can’t handle stakeholders, politics, or panic.
- More Projects, Not Fewer
AI boosts capacity. Result? More projects. Guess who runs them? PMs.
- Change Management Explosion
Every AI rollout needs training, comms, adoption plans. That’s all PM territory.
- Soft Skills Still Rule
No AI replaces empathy, negotiation or leadership. That’s the PM superpower.
CIOs and delivery teams know the reality! Talking to CIO.com, Todd Loiselle, CIO of food distributor National Food Group puts it well: “savings don’t come from a slide deck – they come from execution”.
And effective execution needs the right people, time, and structure.
That’s where PMaaS (Project Management as a Service) becomes a key part of the conversation.
COST-SAVING VISION VS DELIVERY REALITY
There’s a growing disconnect at the heart of IT strategy right now. Boards and CEOs are looking at AI as a shortcut to workforce reduction, with many aiming to trim 20% off staff costs using automation.
They should tread carefully, a recent survey of more than 1,000 business leaders, found that over half (55%) who laid off employees because they thought AI would replace their jobs now regret the decision.
According to CIO.com, more than half of CIOs say boards are pressuring them to use AI to reduce workforce numbers. Yet, more than a third (36%) of those same CIOs also plan to increase hiring for AI/ML roles in 2025.
CIOs see AI implementation as complex, resource-intensive, and requiring more skilled people in the short term, not fewer.
To summarise:
The Vision: AI as a shortcut to cutting 20% of staff costs.
The Reality: 55% of leaders who cut jobs based on AI expectations now regret it.
The Twist: CIOs still plan to increase hiring for AI/ML roles in 2025.
The Solution: PMaaS … read on!
In other words: AI won’t save you money until you’ve spent the time and effort building the capability.
And that’s a serious resourcing challenge.
KEY TO CAPPING COSTS: CAPABILITY AND CAPACITY
Lou DiLorenzo Jr, practice leader for technology, AI, and data strategy at Deloitte told CIO.com: “Before processes get reimagined and work gets done differently, they need people, talent and capacity to help inject that change into the system before you get to a sustainable equilibrium where you’re seeing the impact of that reimagined work.”
Lou nails it here.
Bottom line, In IT Project Management, it would be a huge mistake to assume that AI can replace talent, if anything more AI is going to ramp up the need for PM skills.
AI is a useful Scalable project management ally, but boards demand proof of ROI and many organisations still lack systems to consistently measure either time savings or revenue impact from AI.
A recent survey of 500 CIOs and IT leaders from the UK and USA illustrates the challenges faced when attempting to strategically implement AI while measuring and proving that those AI investments are paying off:
According to Gong research, 61% of global CIOs state increased revenue alone justifies AI costs, 60% said that it was time savings BUT only 32% actively measure both! This underlines that many companies still don’t have systems in place to measure and assess the impact on the variables they say matter most.
A strong IT project management function ensures real-time tracking of expenses, value realisation, and continuous improvement. Without this, any savings claimed are conjecture, not reality.
The pressure for AI cost savings will only intensify so let’s explore how PMaaS can help …
PMAAS: SCALABLE PROJECT MANAGEMENT CAPABILITY FOR AI TRANSFORMATION
PMaaS is increasingly being seen not just as a project delivery model and IT resourcing strategy, but as a cost-saving strategy.
Stoneseed’s PMaaS model was built for precisely this moment. Whether you’re rolling out automation tools, implementing AI-powered platforms, or restructuring services around generative AI, PMaaS benefits include:
- Experienced project teams: Delivery talent that hits the ground running
- Domain experts: The right specialist knowledge at the right time (Data, Cloud, Cyber, DevOps, Change)
- Cost-efficient model: Pay only for what you need, when you need it – Avoid the long-term fixed costs of permanent hires
- Governance: Deploy, govern and scale new solutions faster
Structured governance and tracking is a benefit often overlooked, which PMaaS delivers in abundance, especially when combined with tools like our PMO Platform:
THE PMO ADVANTAGE
Stoneseed’s PMO Platform, built on Microsoft 365 technology, brings together Planner (Microsoft Project), PowerApps, Teams, Forms, Automate, and Power BI. It delivers automation, integration, and real-time business intelligence, improving visibility, governance and project health.
With AI transformations in particular, where compliance, integration and oversight are critical, tools like Stoneseed’s PMO Platform help:
- Align delivery with strategic goals
- Track benefits realisation
- Report progress to stakeholders
- Support agile resourcing decisions
NOTE: It’s available on G-Cloud for our public sector clients too.
WHY THIS ALL REALLY MATTERS NOW
The 2025 State of the CIO Survey tells a clear story: the pressure to prove ROI from AI is increasing, while budgets and permanent headcount are tightening.
“I don’t ask for approval unless we’re confident the project will either increase revenue or reduce costs,” Loiselle tells CIO.com, “efficiency is nice — but it’s not the reason. If we can’t tie the initiative to a financial lever, it doesn’t make the cut.” In the current economic climate, this is a very commonly expressed sentiment.
“We’re on the hook to prove AI is worth the investment,” he adds. “But expecting productivity gains before the foundations are in place is shortsighted.”
So, the priority is delivering the foundations for AI transformation: responsibly, efficiently, and with a laser-focussed precision. While reducing headcount and keeping a tight grip on costs!
PMaaS is the answer to those challenges.
If your AI strategy depends on quick savings, make sure your delivery model is built to support it. PMaaS gives you the agility, structure and talent to deliver real value — fast.
Talk to Stoneseed about how PMaaS can support your AI transformation.
More about Project Management as a Service from Stoneseed
Sources:
https://www.cio.com/article/3976500/state-of-the-cio-survey-2025.html
https://www.hrdive.com/news/leaders-who-laid-off-workers-due-to-ai-regretted-it/746643/
https://www.stoneseed.co.uk/pmo-services/