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Bold Ideas Draft Concepts
Alejandra Brizuela | PMI CPO

Five hypotheses I'd want to pressure-test

Not recommendations. Observations from the outside. I'd want to validate every one with the team.

Community Learning Credentials
Idea 01
"PMI Knows You"
Career Operating System
Hypothesis: If PMI builds a single intelligent profile across its full portfolio, it stops being a certification body and becomes the career operating system for 40M+ professionals.
Research suggests the majority of skills for knowledge jobs will need to evolve by 2030. PMI sits on one of the richest datasets of professional capability in the world, but it's fragmented across multiple products and siloed systems. PMI:Next calls this "career-long learning and development." Today the member connects the dots. PMI could be the one guiding them.
  • One profile: certs, learning, community activity, and event history across every property
  • AI-powered career guidance: "Based on your PMP + CPMAI progress, here's your next move"
  • Turn the retraining crisis into PMI's growth engine. The market needs a trusted guide now
  • The full portfolio becomes one coherent experience. PMI:Next's "unified digital experience" starts here
Platform Strategy
Learn Apply
Idea 02
Infinity Becomes
the Core Product
Hypothesis: If Infinity evolves from AI assistant to live project coach that teaches M.O.R.E. in the flow of work, it becomes PMI's most valuable product, not a membership perk.
Infinity already has multi-LLM intelligence, specialized agents, and document generation. The foundation is strong. 77% of users augment and only 18% automate. And only 7% of PMs apply M.O.R.E. consistently. When they do, project success jumps from 27 to 94. That's a coaching gap worth closing.
  • Live coaching: knows your cert level, project type, and where you've struggled
  • Close the M.O.R.E. gap: turn a framework 7% use into a tool everyone uses
  • Usage data feeds back into personalized learning. The product improves itself
  • Most AI pilots don't make it to production. This one ships as a product from day one
AI + Core Product
Cert
Depth
Active
Learning
AI
Adoption
Project
Delivery
Team
Bench
Idea 03
The Enterprise
Proof Engine
Hypothesis: If PMI becomes the broker of trust between employers and professionals with measurable proof that teams are improving, no competitor selling seats or static licenses can compete.
The landscape is shifting. Lower-cost alternatives are growing fast, and they sell access. PMI can sell proof. Enterprise buyers don't renew because they bought seats. They renew because their teams got measurably better. Pierre calls PMI a "broker of trust." This is where that concept becomes a product.
  • Team-level NPSS tracking: show the 27-to-94 improvement story per client
  • Give L&D leaders ROI data that justifies expansion, not just renewal
  • Certification depth, learning velocity, capability gaps, all in one view
  • The product becomes its own proof. That's a moat alternatives can't replicate
B2B + Trust
76% SKILL CURRENCY
Agile Active Risk Refresh AI Growing
Idea 04
The Credential
That Stays Alive
Hypothesis: If credentials reflect current capability instead of a one-time exam, PMI keeps the profession relevant in a world where the profession itself is at risk of obsolescence.
A PMP earned in 2019 and one earned yesterday look identical. The skills behind them may not be. CPMAI is the fastest-growing cert in the portfolio at 1,000+ applications per month. The market seems to be signaling what it wants: credentials that evolve. The hypothesis is that static certifications face real pressure in an AI world.
  • A living score that updates as you learn, contribute, and apply skills
  • Show employers "skill currency," not a badge date. That's the trust signal
  • CPMAI proves the model works. Extend it across the entire portfolio
  • This is how PMI ensures the project profession survives the AI shift
Credential Innovation
JIRA
SLACK
TEAMS
PMI LAYER
Insights Coaching Standards
Idea 05
PMI as the Invisible
Standard for Projects
Hypothesis: If PMI embeds itself inside the tools teams already use, it becomes the invisible standard for how projects run globally, not a destination you visit, a layer you can't work without.
PMI already rolled out Microsoft Copilot internally. The foundation exists. Now extend it outward. 40M+ project professionals don't leave Jira or Teams to learn. The best distribution is invisible. Pierre says "either embed AI or become obsolete." This is the embed play.
  • PMI coaching surfaces inside Jira, Slack, and Teams, where the work happens
  • Capture how teams actually run projects. Feed it back into PMI's knowledge base
  • Distribution through ecosystems PMI doesn't need to build. Partner, don't own
  • PMI goes from "place you get certified" to "standard you work by"
Distribution + Moat
Where the Growth Comes From

Five Growth Levers

Each hypothesis above maps to one or more of these structural shifts in how PMI creates value.

Lever 01
Individual → Enterprise
PMI sells mostly to practitioners. One enterprise deal is worth hundreds of individual certs. The enterprise channel looks like it has significant room to grow.
Links to: Proof Engine (Idea 03)
Lever 02
One-time cert → Recurring revenue
A PMP costs ~$555, then small renewal fees. Living credentials and Infinity as subscription shift the model from transactional to recurring. Higher LTV, more predictable revenue.
Links to: Living Credentials (Idea 04)
Lever 03
Offline → Digital-first
Chapters and summits build community for thousands. Digital scales that value to millions. Offline builds loyalty. Digital builds reach. PMI:Next calls for amplifying the flywheel through chapters, ATPs, and the volunteer ecosystem. Digital is the multiplier.
Links to: Career OS (Idea 01), Invisible Standard (Idea 05)
Lever 04
English-first → Global-first
700K cert holders in China alone. PMBOK 8 in 9 new languages. But are the products truly localized or just translated? Infinity in Mandarin grounded in local practices is a different product.
Links to: Career OS (Idea 01), Infinity (Idea 02)
Lever 05
Membership perk → Platform
Infinity is bundled as a membership benefit. That caps growth to paying members. Flip it: free tier to get people in, premium for coaching and enterprise. Make the product the top of the funnel, not a perk buried inside.
Links to: Infinity (Idea 02), Proof Engine (Idea 03)
If I Had to Draw It

The Arc

Year 1
Listen. Unify. Ship.
Unify the portfolio into one member experience.
Infinity from feature to core product.
Assess team structure for the AI era.
Earn trust. No surprises.
Year 3
Prove It.
Living credentials rolling across portfolio.
Enterprise proof engine live.
M.O.R.E. adoption from 7% to 25%+.
PMI embedded in partner ecosystems.
Year 5
Own the Category.
PMI is the career operating system.
NPSS is the industry benchmark.
Credentials-as-journey is the norm.
The invisible standard for projects.
Year 10
Redefine the Profession.
The profession didn't die from AI. PMI evolved it.
40M+ professionals guided by the platform.
PMI is to project professionals what Bloomberg is to finance.

"I'd rather be approximately right than precisely wrong."

Warren Buffett
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