PROJECT MANAGEMENT PRACTICES AS ENABLERS OF AI-DRIVEN DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION : AN EMPIRICAL INVESTIGATION OF THEIR IMPACT ON ORGANISATIONAL PERFORMANCE

Abstract

Artificial intelligence is increasingly central to digital transformation because it enables predictive decision-making, intelligent automation, process redesign, and customer-focused service innovation. Yet AI-enabled transformation frequently fails to deliver expected organisational value when implementation is treated as a technical deployment rather than a managed organisational change initiative. This report examines project management practices as enablers of AI-driven digital transformation and analyses their impact on organisational performance. Drawing on digital transformation literature, agile project management research, dynamic capabilities theory, stakeholder theory, and AI governance scholarship, the report proposes an integrated framework linking agile and hybrid delivery, stakeholder engagement, risk governance, change management, data and resource integration, and benefits realisation to AI transformation success. A mixed-method empirical design is presented, supported by an illustrative dataset of 286 project and digital transformation professionals. The illustrative findings indicate that agile delivery, stakeholder engagement, and risk governance are strongly associated with AI transformation success, while benefits realisation and post-implementation monitoring are particularly important for translating AI deployment into measurable organisational performance. The report includes a full conceptual framework, AI transformation lifecycle, research design model, tables of constructs, hypotheses, illustrative results, and practical recommendations for organisations seeking to improve AI adoption outcomes.