About this Presentation
This presentation explores what Critical Chain Project Management looks like in the age of AI and robotics. Rather than asking whether CCPM is obsolete, it reframes the issue around boundary conditions - showing where CCPM still creates decisive value, where AI shifts the constraint from execution to decision quality, and how practitioners can avoid applying the right method in the wrong environment.
A practical guide for CCPM practitioners and consultants, the session examines how AI and robotics affect flow, project execution, prioritization, and capacity constraints. It also highlights where CCPM should be strengthened, where rule calibration matters, and where fully AI-driven work may require different management approaches altogether.
What Will You Learn
To help you get the most value from this session, we’ve highlighted a few key points. These takeaways capture the main ideas and practical insights from the presentation, making it easier for you to review, reflect, and apply what you’ve learned.
This session challenges the wrong AI-era question. Instead of asking whether CCPM is obsolete, it asks when CCPM still creates decisive value, and where AI simply exposes its boundary conditions more clearly.
A central insight is that AI does not eliminate constraints in projects. It relocates them, shifting the bottleneck from execution time toward decision quality, scope definition, and knowing what to do next.
The session gives practitioners a practical test for when to double down on CCPM: human execution time still matters, capacity is shared across projects, tasks are substantial, priorities compete, and overruns carry real consequences.
It also shows where mistakes happen in the AI transition, from applying the right principle with the wrong rule to using CCPM outside its boundary conditions, especially in AI-coded or highly autonomous environments.
Instructor(s)
Dr Alan Barnard
Dr. Alan Barnard is a leading decision scientist and Theory of Constraints (TOC) expert with almost 20 years of experience working directly with Dr. Eli Goldratt, the creator of TOC. As the CEO of Goldratt Research Labs (USA), Alan focuses on using advanced technologies and decision sciences to develop Apps and Decision Support methods, enabling organizations to achieve more with less time. Under his leadership, Goldratt Research Labs has collaborated on innovation and research projects with renowned Fortune 500 companies like Microsoft, Cargill, BHP, Tata Steel, Amazon, and others, along with public sector organizations like Utah Governor's Office and UN WFP. Alan has held prominent roles in various organizations, including past-President of the South African Supply Chain Society SAPICS and past-President of TOCICO. His significant contributions have been recognized through prestigious awards, including inclusion in the 2020 Marquis Who's Who Global Listing, membership in the Forbes Technology Council, and the TOCICO Lifetime Achievement Award. He is an accomplished author and frequent presenter on Decision Making in a Complex World and Theory of Constraints at international conferences. Alan's latest book, "The Bottleneck - How to resolve our attention crisis," is currently in progress. As the chief architect of the award-winning HARMONY Decision Maker, Change Simulator, and Change Maker series of Decision Support Apps, Alan continues to shape the landscape of decision science and TOC. Please let me know if you need any further information or details.