The Project management edition
The AI news of that week, in plain language.
This week: AI agents that complete tasks on their own, a risk hiding in your meeting assistant, and why human oversight matters more than ever.
AI agents are taking over entire jobs. Useful, but keep your hand on the controls
Your project tools now include AI that carries out several steps by itself, from drafting a report to scheduling a meeting.
The shift has become very clear this month across Microsoft 365, Google Gemini Enterprise, and ChatGPT: from a standalone chatbot to an independent AI agent. Such an agent works through multiple steps in sequence: drafting a report, scheduling a meeting, looking up data, and then presenting the result to you. Microsoft made these agentic features in Word, Excel, and PowerPoint generally available in April 2026. But this very week, two incidents showed exactly why you need to stay in control.
Background for subscribersFor you as a project manager, the benefit is real: let an agent draft a status report or schedule a meeting, and use the time you save for your team and your steering group. But treat the result as a draft from a junior colleague. The agent only sees what is in the tool. Check the dates and action points against what you know yourself before anything goes out.
From chatbot to independent worker: AI agents in Microsoft, Google, and ChatGPT
The major tools are moving from standalone chatbot to autonomous agent. Such an agent carries out several steps by itself, for example drafting a report or scheduling a meeting, and presents the result to you. Microsoft made these agentic features in Word, Excel, and PowerPoint generally available in April 2026.
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