🚩 Tactical Memo 038: How to Stay Relevant When AI Can Draft a 12-Month Roadmap in Seconds
Justin Bateh
January 20, 2026
Read time: 7 minutes
Welcome to Tactical Memo, my newsletter where I share clear lessons and simple systems for people who run projects, lead teams, and make decisions.
If you want practical guidance you can use at work this week, you are in the right place.
👉 Why Read This Edition: You will learn how I stay relevant when AI can create plans faster than any human, and what you should focus on so your value keeps growing instead of shrinking.
The Briefing: Today’s Focus
Why roadmaps are no longer the hard part
What AI is good at and what it is not
Where human value still matters most
How to shift your role starting today
Why This Keeps Breaking
AI can now draft a full 12-month roadmap in seconds. It can outline goals, timelines, risks, and dependencies. This makes many people nervous, especially project leaders.
I see the same fear everywhere. If AI can plan faster than me, what am I still needed for.
The mistake is thinking your value came from creating the roadmap. It did not. The roadmap was never the hard part. The hard part was deciding what mattered, getting people to agree, and adjusting when reality changed.
AI makes plans fast. It does not make them work.
The Rule: Planning Is Easy. Judgment Is Rare
AI creates options.
Humans choose direction.
If you stay focused on producing plans, you will feel replaced. If you focus on judgment, alignment, and decision-making, your value increases.
A Tactical Playbook: How I Stay Relevant When AI Plans Faster Than Me
1. I stop competing with AI on speed
I do not try to outwork AI. That battle is already lost. Instead, I let AI create the first draft of plans and roadmaps. Then I step in where it cannot. I review the plan and ask what assumptions it made, what trade-offs it ignored, and what risks feel underestimated. You stay relevant by improving plans, not racing them.
2. I focus on deciding what not to include
AI is good at adding ideas. It is bad at saying no. I spend my time cutting scope, removing low-value work, and choosing what waits. This is where most projects fail. Too much work kills delivery. You stay relevant by protecting focus.
3. I own the hard trade-offs
Roadmaps always create tension. Teams want more time. Leaders want faster results. Stakeholders want their item included. AI cannot absorb that tension. I step in and make the call. I explain why something moves forward and why something waits. Ownership of trade-offs is leadership work.
4. I translate plans into clear priorities
A roadmap means nothing if people do not know what to do this week. I turn plans into simple priorities. What matters now. What can wait. What success looks like. You stay relevant by turning strategy into action people understand.
5. I adjust the plan when reality hits
AI plans assume clean execution. Real work is messy. People leave. Priorities change. Risks show up late. I stay close to the work so I can adjust quickly. I do not treat the roadmap as fixed. I treat it as a guide. Adaptation is human work.
6. I use AI as an input, not an authority
I always remember this. AI suggests. I decide. When teams treat AI output as final, they stop thinking. I ask people to explain the plan in their own words. If they cannot, we slow down. Understanding matters more than speed..
What To Do Right Now
Let AI draft your next roadmap. Save yourself the time.
Review it and cut at least 20 percent. Protect focus.
Write down three assumptions the plan depends on. Watch those closely.
Name one trade-off you need to decide this week. Decide it.
Tell your team what matters this week, not this quarter.
Remind yourself: planning is easy. Leadership is not.
These steps shift your role from planner to decision-maker.
Your Future Impact = (Project Execution X AI Fluency)
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There’s a hidden rule in the AI era:
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This course moves you up the value chain:
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Free Survival Kit
p.s…I put together the AI-Era Project Manager Survival Kit to help you stay valuable as work changes. It includes 10 short cheat sheets you can use right away.
If this helped you, send it to someone who could use it this week.
Until next time,
Justin
✍️ From the Desk of Justin Bateh, PhD
Simple tactics. Real results. No fluff.
