Project Controls Redefined: From Techniques to Trusted Recommendations

Why project controls exists?

The fundamental reason why Project Controls exists has not changed. Project management of capital projects is a multidimensional discipline, and it requires excellence across different aspects.

We observe four key aspects of managing a project:

• Technical aspects – the product, service, or infrastructure being delivered.
• Managerial aspects – team leadership, stakeholder engagement and project governance.
• Contractual aspects – managing obligations, risks, claims and compliance.
• Data-Driven aspects (Project Controls) – using data insights to measure, forecast and optimize project performance.

We believe that all these areas deserve full professional recognition and it is simply not realistic to expect a single person to master all parts of project management. At Proove, We have chosen Project Controls as our profession and have positioned ourselves as the data-driven experts within a project management team. A wise choice given its growth.

The original definition of Project Controls

In 2017, we defined Project Controls as:

Project Controls covers the aspects of project management that estimate, model, analyze, predict, measure, report, and visualize project data to generate insights that support and influence decision-making, ensuring projects create maximal value for stakeholders.

At the time, we focused on planning and controlling knowledge areas such as time, cost, resources, and risk using techniques like the critical path method, earned value management, 4D planning, and tools such as Oracle Primavera P6. Project controls professionals were the analytical experts, the ones who used the right tools and techniques to create and report insights into the health of the project.

While this definition remains highly relevant today and still defines our everyday job, AI, automation, and real-time data analytics are (eventually) expected to reshape our field. Project controls is arguably the aspect of project management that will be most impacted by the AI (r)evolution. That’s why it’s important to revisit and evolve our definition, not to replace the fundamentals of project controls as we know them, but to keep the door open to ongoing improvement and innovation.

Project controls is here to stay

With the rise of AI, the need for high-quality project data has never been greater. Projects are becoming more data-driven, not less. The complex decision-making that defines a project manager’s role will rely more and more on solid data rather than on gut feeling.

AI and automation transform how project data is processed and presented, reshaping the way Project Controls insights are delivered. Project managers will increasingly interact directly with these systems, no longer through their supporting project controls engineer. This shift brings new expectations: project managers will need to evolve, strengthening their data literacy and ability to act on data insights.

Still, these systems don’t operate in isolation. Project Controls, both as a discipline and as the underlying infrastructure, remains essential to ensure the data is accurate and the insights are meaningful.

The human in the loop

As project controls systems become more intelligent and automated, the role of the Project Controls professional is evolving.

Instead of spending time entering data and manually compiling reports, Project Controls professionals are becoming enablers of data science. Their role is to validate automated insights, interpret them in the context of the project, and guide project teams toward the right data-informed actions through effective storytelling. To do this successfully, they must also take responsibility for the underlying data, ensuring that relevant project information is available, well-structured, and reliable so it can be transformed into actionable insight.

Rather than becoming obsolete, human expertise is becoming more critical than ever. To stay relevant and thrive in this new landscape, Project Controls professionals will need to sharpen and expand their skillset.

Project Controls is not being replaced. It is being elevated. And the professionals who are ready to grow with it will become more valuable than ever.

Our future-proof definition of project controls

Our new definition of Project Controls is designed to be future proof:

Project Controls is the data-driven backbone of project management, ensuring access to accurate and relevant project data to deliver actionable insights and informed recommendations that drive decision-making and maximize stakeholder value.

This definition shifts the focus to the core principle of leveraging data insights for decision-making, rather than the specific methods or tools used. The ‘how’ is secondary and will continue to evolve as technology advances.

What this means for the future

Project Controls is about enabling smart decision-making and improving project outcomes. AI and automation will continue to redefine how project data is collected, analyzed, and used, making Project Controls more strategic and valuable than ever before.

In short, Project Controls is shifting from an analysis and reporting function to a strategic enabler of data-driven project management, empowered by technology, built on reliable data, and driven by skilled people.

Project Controls is evolving and Proove is leading the way. Are you ready to be part of it?