Featured Article: Two Project Manager Agent Features You Might Like
Resource Article: Balancing AI and Human Expertise - The 4 C's Framework
Video Tutorial: The Project Manager Agent in Action
Live Event: Microsoft Planner and AI - Better Together
PM Best Practice: Brief the Agent Like You'd Brief a New Hire
Tuesday Brief: AI agents have arrived in Microsoft Planner, and the question every project manager is asking is a practical one: what can they actually do today, and where do they still need you? This week we look at Microsoft's Project Manager Agent through the eyes of an MVP who has put it to work, step back for a framework on balancing AI with human judgment, and head to Wednesday's live event for a hands-on look at the agents reshaping task management and status reporting.
Featured Article:Two Project Manager Agent Features You Might Like
Microsoft MVP Erik van Hurck has been tracking the Project Manager Agent (PMA) in Planner since it first appeared, and his latest assessment focuses on two developments worth knowing about: agent-to-agent communication, where the Facilitator Agent can hand task creation off to the PMA, and a redesigned interface that integrates the agent directly into your scheduling workspace.
Erik is candid about where the agent shines and where it still stumbles on more advanced work like durations and dependencies, which is exactly the kind of grounded read this fast-moving topic needs. It is a practical view of how agentic AI is starting to show up in the tools project managers already use, and a useful primer before Wednesday's session with Nenad Trajkovski goes deeper.
Resource Article: Balancing AI and Human Expertise - The 4 C's Framework
For all the talk of AI taking over project tasks, the more useful question is where human judgment still has to lead. This piece offers a framework for thinking it through: Critical thinking, Communication, Creativity, and Collaboration, the four areas where experienced project managers add value that no agent can replicate. It is a worthwhile companion to this week's hands-on content, zooming out from any single tool to the larger skill of knowing when to lean on AI and when to rely on your own experience.
Video Tutorial: How to Use the Relationship Diagram View in Microsoft Project
If you want to see the Project Manager Agent at work rather than just read about it, Erik van Hurck recorded a hands-on demonstration from the Microsoft MVP Summit in Redmond. He walks through creating a plan with the agent, assigning tasks to it, and watching it generate and analyze work, while being refreshingly honest about the rough edges.
His takeaway is a memorable one: at this stage, the PMA behaves more like a brainstorming agent than a full project manager. This is an early look filmed when the feature was new, so the interface has continued to evolve since, but it remains one of the clearest windows into how these agents think and where a human still has to step in.
Live Event (5/19): Microsoft Planner and AI - Better Together
Join Nenad Trajkovski for a practical look at how Microsoft Planner's AI capabilities can take real work off your plate. This session demonstrates the Project Manager Agent, the Status Report Agent, and Copilot in Planner, with a focus on cutting the manual effort behind task management and project reporting.
What You'll Learn:
How the Project Manager Agent supports task creation, assignment, and progress tracking in everyday workflows
How the Status Report Agent generates accurate, timely status reports with far less manual effort
How Copilot in Planner streamlines task management so you can focus on team leadership and stakeholder engagement
Where AI agents free up time for the higher-value work that actually needs a project manager
📅 Wednesday, May 19, 2026 🕛 12:00 – 1:00 PM ET 📍 Live on Zoom 🏅 1 PDU (1 Business Acumen)
MPUG members get live access and replays. Not a member yet? Join today or start your free 7-day trial. SPECIAL OFFER: New members get $30 off annual membership when you join this month!
Upcoming Live Events
MPUG hosts live events with leading experts on Wednesdays from 12:00pm - 1:00pm ET! MPUG members get access to live events where you get direct access to industry leaders, actionable insights, hands-on training, and opportunities to earn PDUs.
PM Best Practice: Brief the Agent Like You'd Brief a New Hire
When you hand work to an AI agent, treat the prompt the way you would a kickoff conversation with a new team member. State the goal, the constraints, and the context the agent cannot infer on its own, then check the output before it moves downstream. Vague input produces vague results, whether the recipient is human or AI. The clearer your brief, the less rework you do later.
