Peter Taylor on productive laziness, AI transformation, and the critical thinking crisis
Peter Taylor has written 33 books about project management. His latest, The Invisible Project Manager, launched on 29th December 2025, and the title alone should make every project professional pause. Invisible? After decades of fighting for recognition, respect, and a seat at the strategic table, why would anyone in project management aspire to become invisible?
The answer lies in three converging forces that Taylor believes will fundamentally transform how projects are delivered: unprecedented processing power, the post-pandemic culture shift in how we work, and the emergence of conversational AI that requires no programming expertise to deploy. Together, these forces represent what Taylor describes as the natural evolution of an idea he first articulated 15 years ago in The Lazy Project Manager, a book about productive laziness that would eventually take him to the other side of the planet.
But this transformation comes with a warning. As AI handles more routine project tasks, organisations face a critical question that few are asking: where will the critical thinking sit? Taylor's answer is uncomfortable. It won't sit with individual project managers anymore. It will need to sit somewhere else in the organisation, and most companies haven't figured out where that somewhere is.
In this episode of the Project Flux podcast, Peter Taylor discusses the transformative role of AI in project management. He introduces the concept of the 'Invisible Project Manager,' emphasising how AI can automate repetitive tasks, allowing project managers to focus on critical thinking and strategic oversight.
Taylor highlights the importance of human interaction in project management, even as automation increases. He advocates for education and training in AI to prepare project managers for the future, stressing that accountability and critical thinking will be essential in navigating the challenges posed by AI. The conversation explores the evolving roles within project management and the balance between technology and human insight.
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