For years, Microsoft Project has been and still is a standard tool for professional project planning and scheduling. Powerful, yet often complex in practice. With the integration of Artificial Intelligence, this is changing fundamentally: project plans can now be created faster, automatically reviewed, and adjusted—without rigid templates or lengthy user training.
This is made possible by a Copilot feature developed by Campana & Schott, directly integrated into the MS Project client. It opens new perspectives: beginners can create reliable plans in no time, while experienced project managers are relieved of repetitive work and can focus on targeted optimization. Microsoft Project remains the central platform — but becomes smarter, more intuitive, and future-proof.
This post highlights what’s already possible today, which challenges AI solves, and why it’s worth taking a fresh look at Microsoft Project.
Note: Microsoft has announced that Project Online will be retired on September 30, 2026. The Project desktop applications are not affected by this retirement and can continue to be used as usual.
Why So Many Project Plans Start Out Complex
Despite its strengths, Microsoft Project has long been anything but easy to adopt. Its structure is precise, but not intuitive. Anyone wanting to plan a project needs to understand work breakdown structures, dependencies, and resource management. Without prior knowledge, users often fall back on existing templates that then require extensive manual adjustments.
In decentralized project environments, this leads to recurring challenge:
- High entry barriers: Without prior experience or support from a Project Management Office, onboarding is difficult. New project managers often need training or external support.
- Time-consuming plan creation: Standard templates are reused and then manually adapted, which costs time and increases the risk of errors.
- Lack of validation before kickoff: Under time pressure, or if the PMO doesn’t perform detailed checks, structural weaknesses in project plans often go unnoticed.
AI-Powered Planning Directly in Microsoft Project Client
This is where the new AI functionality developed by Campana & Schott comes in. The solution is based on an OpenAI language model, hosted on Microsoft Azure, and directly embedded in the Project client. It can be accessed via an extended ribbon interface.
Three Clear Benefits of AI in Microsoft Project
The new AI functionality transforms how project planning works in three decisive areas:
1. Fast and Complete: Project Plans via Text Input
Instead of manually building structures or reworking templates, a short natural language description of the project is enough. The AI translates this into a full planning skeleton with tasks, phases, dependencies, and durations. This saves time and reduces the errors that often occur during manual transfer of requirements.
Studies confirm the impact: for example, Rezvanjou et al.1 found that in production environments, AI-supported dynamic scheduling reduced error rates by around 30 percent.
1 Rezvanjou, S., Amini, M., & Bigham, M. (2023). Renewable Energy Location in Disruption Situation by MCDM Method and Machine Learning. International journal of industrial engineering and operational research, 5(4), 75- 89.
2. Built-in Quality Assurance
Questions like whether tasks are logically linked, buffer times are realistic, or the plan is even feasible are central to project practice — but so far, easy validation mechanisms were missing. The new AI closes this gap. It automatically analyzes schedules, identifies typical weaknesses, and provides concrete suggestions for optimization — based on established standards such as the DCMA 14-Point Assessment from the U.S. Defense Contract Management Agency.
The benefits are measurable: in a recent study, AI-enhanced planning significantly improved scheduling, cost estimation, and risk management, with average performance gains of 32%2. The results show: AI not only accelerates planning, but also measurably increases the structural quality of project plans.
2 Parekh, Ruchit & Mitchell, Olivia & Wright, Sophia. (2024). Utilization of artificial intelligence in project management. International Journal of Science and Research Archive. 13. 1093-1102. 10.30574/ijsra.2024.13.1.1779.
3. Greater Stability with Better Accessibility
Microsoft Project remains the reliable planning tool companies have trusted for years. The familiar interface and established processes stay intact. At the same time, entry barriers are lowered — solid plans can now be created without deep methodological expertise. This makes the tool more accessible to new teams and more attractive to organizations that haven’t used Project before.
The Future of AI-Supported Project Work
As Sven Hausen, Associate Partner & Head of Division Transformation Work at Campana & Schott puts it: “This new planning function marks the beginning of an ongoing evolution. Microsoft Project is becoming smarter without sacrificing reliability – simply an efficiency booster for project managers.”
- Additional use cases across the Microsoft ecosystem are already emerging:
- Automatic use of centrally documented lessons learned — for example, within the CS PPM Power Suite — enables the AI to recognize patterns from completed projects and apply them to new ones.
- Text-based documents such as project charters or requirement catalogs can be analyzed with Copilot 365 to identify potential risks early.
- In multi-project environments, AI can highlight dependencies, resource conflicts, and scheduling overlaps.
Companies benefit within their familiar environment—without a system change, but with far more support in day-to-day planning.
Conclusion: A Trusted Tool with New Intelligence
The integration of AI makes Microsoft Project more accessible, efficient, and forward-looking — without losing the stability users rely on. Project managers gain support in creating and reviewing plans, benefit from clearer structures, and free up time for what really matters. Microsoft Project thus remains a proven tool — intelligently enhanced, attractive for new users, and even more relevant for experienced teams.
Want to learn more?
Our article „40 Jahre Microsoft Project – From Old School to New School“ explains why the tool will continue to play a key role in project management across industries.
Or schedule a consultation directly.
Our experts will show you how the new functionality can be applied in practice—tailored to your needs and your projects in form of AI Envisioning Cards.
