Martin Novák
From Task Manager to AI-Augmented Agile Leader
Five years managing software projects at a tech company near Bratislava Castle. Computer science degree from Slovak University of Technology, steady progression from junior to mid-level PM. Weekends I play football with friends, sometimes hike the Little Carpathians when the weather's good.
Spring 2024 changed everything. Our company rolled out AI project management tools—Asana AI, Monday.com's assistant, Microsoft Copilot. Watched them generate sprint plans, resource allocations, risk assessments in minutes. Work that used to fill my afternoons. My role suddenly felt redundant.
Found JobRipper through a project management forum in May. HIGH risk for administrative scheduling and reporting, LOW risk for leadership and stakeholder management. The message was clear: stop being a task coordinator, become a team leader. Easier said than done.
Enrolled in Agile leadership certification, took a change management course through Coursera. The technical side made sense—I understood the frameworks. The people side was different. Leading retrospectives where team members argue about processes, mediating conflicts between developers and designers, managing stakeholders who want everything yesterday. No course really prepares you for that.
Made mistakes. Big one happened month 6—tried to implement a new workflow the team hated. Pushed too hard, didn't listen to their concerns. Sprint velocity dropped 30%. Had a difficult conversation with my manager. Learned to involve the team more in decision-making after that.
My job title hasn't changed. Still Project Manager. But the day-to-day is different now. AI handles the scheduling, task tracking, status reports. I spend time in one-on-ones, facilitating team discussions, working with product owners on priorities. Less Excel, more conversations.
Haven't played football in three weeks—been busier with the added responsibilities. The transition wasn't smooth, wasn't what I expected. Thought learning new tools would be enough. Turns out the real skill was learning how to lead people through change while going through it myself. Still working on that part.