In every conversation I’m having with CEOs and executives right now, the surface topic is AI. The deeper issue is workforce transformation. I’m seeing 7 emerging workforce themes linked to AI. Over the next 7 weeks, I will unpack them one by one.
Themes will include AI-enabled work design, executive and workforce role redesign, managing workforce impacts, strategic communication, capability shifts, governance evolution, and human-centric change at scale.
This week’s focus is the first shift: the rise of multidisciplinary Strategic Project Offices.
Strategic Project Offices are different
Whether you call it a PMO, TMO, Strategic Delivery Office, or Strategic Project Office, these functions are changing fast. What began as governance and reporting functions, are now becoming architects of organization-wide strategic change, often with direct CEO visibility.
Traditional PMOs focused on project discipline and consistency. Transformation Management Offices (TMOs) emphasised change adoption and business transition. The emerging Strategic Project Office (SPO or sometimes D for Delivery SDO) integrates both, but goes further, aligning AI investment, workforce redesign, and measurable strategic outcomes. Success is no longer on-time and on-budget. It is strategic goal attainment and ROI in an AI-enabled operating model.
I’m seeing more of these offices staffed not only with project managers, but with strategists, change leaders, AI specialists, and workforce experts. The mandate is broader, the visibility is higher, and the expectations are HUGE.
The nature of project work has changed
After my early career at McKinsey and other consulting firms, I went independent. My my first gig was rescuing an ERP rollout. They had PMO governance, but were weak on process. The system did not match commercial requirements, and the resulting cash flow crisis almost sunk the entire firm. We fixed it by establishing a Process Improvement Team. This is an easy solution (not at the time with the CFO collapsing with double pneumonia). Nowadays, a “simple” process fix is glaringly insufficient. AI has massive people impacts, and so requires complex organisational design and deep workforce shifts.
Today’s strategy and AI transformation cannot sit in a back-office function. It must bridge cross-functional stakeholder involvement, technology, organisational and process design. It must ensure AI initiatives are not isolated “islands” in different teams, but coordinated organisation-wide shifts tied to commercial outcomes.
Bridge between functions with a Strategic Project Office
3 tips for a Truly Strategic Project Office
1. Reposition your PMO as a SPO
Your PMO, or whatever you call it, needs to be repositioned if it is not already seen as strategic. It must be perceived as a truly Strategic Project Office. That requires people with skills in strategy, culture change, and AI, not only traditional project management and governance skills. If you want practical SPO frameworks and real-world examples, you will find them inside The Turbochargers Hub.
2. Ensure direct CEO accountability
Where possible, have your SPO report directly to the CEO, or formally assign a dotted-line to the CEO to reinforce organisation-wide and independent accountability. It should be viewed as independent, not as partisan to one function.
3. Consider the big picture of the future workforce
Traditional PMO’s can fall into the trap of a focus on minute detail, such as tracking project milestones and budget. While this detailed work is essential, we must not lose sight of the big picture, especially the nature of future workforce and how the transition might occur. This is where some of the biggest AI risks are emerging that I’m working on right now with clients.
When your Strategic Project Office becomes a bridge between functions, technology and real business value, your transformation stops being a set of projects, and becomes a core commercial capability.
“Every career, company, and institution is built on a small set of defaults that once worked. The real risk is assuming they’ll keep working.”.”
J.D. Meier, Satya Nadella’s Firmer Head Innovation Coach, Microsoft
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About Lisa Carlin
Lisa Carlin is a Strategy Execution Specialist. Most of my work is guiding transformation leaders in B2B Tech and Knowledge Services to design and implement strategic AI programs that deliver tangible results at scale. I accelerate strategy with Culture Intelligence and AI.
Lisa is author of the globally acclaimed newsletter, Turbocharge Weekly, read by 8,000 business leaders.
Lisa’s career includes roles at McKinsey and Accenture, then running her own business since 1999. Over this time she has delivered over 50 implementations with a 96% success rate.