The Right Way to Sunset a Project
The process of sunsetting a project is a crucial but often neglected part of project management. Rather than letting projects linger—tying up capital, draining morale, and undermining performance—strategic leaders intentionally close projects....more
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Build Smarter Workflows With Lifetime Access to This Project Management Course Pack
Disclosure: Our goal is to feature products and services that we think you'll find interesting and useful. If you purchase them, Entrepreneur may get a small share of the revenue from the sale from our commerce partners. As a founder juggling client projects, product launches, and team collaboration, any tool or knowledge that sharpens project execution is worth exploring. Enter the 2025 Project Management Certification Masterclass Bundle, which brings Scrum, Agile, and Jira training into one package tailored for entrepreneurs and rising business professionals. For a one-time fee of $39.99 (reg. $180), this bundle includes 14 individual courses, covering everything from structured Agile workflows to certification prep for Scrum and Scrum+DevOps programs. You also get in-depth Jira training for digital planning, tracking, and team coordination. The value is clear: comprehensive project management education without recurring subscription fees. The material teaches both mindset and mechanics. Agile modules break down iterative delivery principles, team sprints, backlog grooming, and customer-first prioritization. Scrum segments walk you through roles like Scrum Master and Product Owner, sprint planning workflows, and stakeholder communication best practices. And the Jira component arrives with setup instructions, dashboard creation, custom workflows, and real-world case studies from tech and creative teams. What really pairs well with startup work or solo ventures is the immediate applicability. These aren't abstract theories—they're actionable frameworks I applied right away: setting sprint cadences for my marketing campaign, defining sprint backlog items for new features, and using Jira to visualize progress and bottlenecks. After implementing what I learned, team email clarifications dropped and I even reduced task spillover during busy project weeks. The bundle comes with lifetime access, meaning no recurring fees and always-on access to course updates. That freedom suits solopreneurs, consultants, and growing small companies alike. Whether you're scaling internal processes, building better client workflows, or upping your credentials for investor confidence, this bundle offers targeted training made for results. For anyone who is running business operations, managing projects, or delivering client services, this course bundle delivers ROI in process improvement and clarity. With real-world tools and certification preparation included, it's an efficient way to level up your project management game without diving into long-term training subscriptions. Don't wait to jump on this offer. Grab this Scrum, Agile, and Jira e-learning resource for just $39.99 (reg. $180). The 2025 Project Management Certification Masterclass Bundle Ft. Scrum, Agile & Jira See Deal StackSocial prices subject to change.
Forbes
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- Forbes
Beyond AI Pilots: Building Intelligent Customer Experiences
Over the past year, I've observed organizations struggling through what I call "AI pilot limbo"—that frustrating state where every department has launched their own artificial intelligence initiative, yet somehow the customer experience gets worse, not better. Marketing tests chatbots, sales experiments with lead scoring algorithms, customer service rolls out automated ticket routing, and IT evaluates machine learning platforms. In essence, everyone is "doing AI," but nobody is talking to each other. But beneath this surface chaos, something profound is happening. The most visionary organizations aren't just adding AI to existing processes—they're reimagining what business can become when intelligence flows seamlessly through every customer interaction. The Foundation for Holistic Thinking Despite the current chaos, I'm seeing encouraging signs that foundational work has begun for more holistic thinking. Forward-thinking leaders are starting to ask different questions: Instead of "What AI tool should we buy?" they're asking "How do we create seamless customer experiences powered by intelligence?" This shift represents a fundamental evolution from viewing AI as a collection of tools to seeing it as the nervous system of customer experience. The companies achieving this integration report remarkable results: 3x higher customer satisfaction scores, 40% faster revenue growth, and dramatically reduced customer acquisition costs. What an Holistic AI Strategy Actually Looks Like A truly holistic AI strategy connects every customer touchpoint through shared intelligence. Instead of isolated systems that create friction at every handoff, integrated AI creates seamless experiences that feel effortless and personal. 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This isn't just about data integration—it's about establishing shared definitions, consistent metrics, and real-time access across all customer-facing system data and process. Key priorities: Phase 2: Connect Intelligence Across the Journey Once your foundation is solid, begin connecting AI capabilities across different stages of the customer journey. The goal is creating intelligent handoffs where each interaction informs and improves the next. Key priorities: Phase 3: Achieve Autonomous Experience Optimization The final phase focuses on creating AI systems that automatically optimize customer experiences based on continuous learning and adaptation—what I call "symbiotic intelligence" where human insight and artificial intelligence amplify each other. Key priorities: The Exponential Advantage What excites me most about this transformation is its exponential nature. Unlike traditional business improvements that deliver linear returns, integrated AI creates compound advantages that accelerate over time. Companies building these capabilities today aren't just improving current performance—they're creating platforms for continuous innovation. There are some organizations where this exponential effect is already visible: their customer satisfaction scores don't just improve—they accelerate. Their innovation cycles don't just shorten—they become continuous. Their competitive advantages don't just strengthen—they become nearly impossible to replicate. From a security and compliance perspective, unified customer experience platforms actually improve your posture by reducing data synchronization points and eliminating manual transfer processes. When customer information updates in real-time through controlled APIs, you have better audit trails, more consistent access controls, and fewer breach opportunities. The Human Element in Intelligent Business Perhaps most importantly, this transformation isn't about replacing human intelligence—it's about amplifying human potential in unprecedented ways. The most successful intelligent enterprises I work with have discovered that AI doesn't diminish the importance of human insight, creativity, and empathy—it makes these uniquely human capabilities more powerful and scalable. When machines handle routine decisions and data processing, humans become free to focus on strategy, innovation, and relationship building. When AI provides real-time insights about customer needs, human creativity can craft more meaningful experiences. When intelligent systems handle operational complexity, human leaders can focus on vision and values. The Path Forward We stand at an inflection point in business history. The organizations that emerge as leaders won't be those with the most AI tools—they'll be those that successfully integrate intelligence into the fabric of their customer relationships. For business leaders, this means moving beyond departmental AI initiatives to embrace customer experience as your primary competitive battlefield. For CIOs, it means treating customer experience requirements as the organizing principle for your entire enterprise architecture. For visionaries, it represents the opportunity to build truly intelligent organizations that learn, adapt, and improve continuously. The transformation requires courage, vision, and commitment. It means investing in capabilities that might take time to fully mature. It means believing in a future where business becomes truly intelligent. But for those ready to lead, the rewards are extraordinary. You won't just build better businesses—you'll help create a world where customer experience becomes more human, more responsive, and more valuable for everyone involved. We are still at the dawn of the age of intelligent enterprise. The companies that figure this out first won't just survive the AI revolution—they'll lead it. The question isn't whether artificial intelligence will transform customer experience; it's whether you'll be among the leaders who make that transformation successful. The opportunity to lead is here. The tools are available. The future is waiting. What will you choose to build?
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3 hours ago
- Bloomberg
South Africa's Fixed-Investment Plans Fall 47% on State Pullback
South Africa's planned investment in capital projects almost halved in the first six months of 2025 after the government and state-owned companies failed to announce any new ones. The value of new projects announced dipped to an annualized 316.2 billion rand ($17.5 billion) from 592.2 billion rand a year earlier, with all of them coming from the private sector, according to a report by Nedbank Group Ltd. 's latest Capital Expenditure Project Listing report. Almost 63% were energy-related, it said.
