5 Minutes Podcast with Ricardo Vargas

In this final episode of 2025, Ricardo proposes a reflection on changes that will profoundly impact projects in 2026. He presents five central insights: the end of projects as isolated islands, which will operate as parts of a continuous value stream; the radical fragmentation of teams, marked by high fluidity between people, partners, and AI agents; the silent transfer of authority, with decisions distributed among boards, algorithms, and teams; the emergence of cognitive risk, caused by flawed mental models and excessive reliance on automated responses; and the silent obsolescence of the traditional project manager. For Ricardo, 2026 will be the year of repositioning, requiring the courage to unlearn, assume new responsibilities, and lead in ambiguous environments, focusing on real impact and conscious choices. Listen to the podcast to learn more!

In this episode, Ricardo looks back at the year in projects with a mature and deeply reflective perspective, focusing on the lessons learned. He describes an intense year, marked by strong pressure for results, shorter deadlines, and increasingly tight budgets, where good planning ceased to be a differentiator and became a matter of survival. Execution took center stage, and mistakes became more costly. At the same time, artificial intelligence ceased to be a promise and became part of the daily routine of projects, bringing real productivity gains. AI did not replace the project manager; it replaced improvisation. Even so, the biggest challenge remained human: fatigue, overload, burnout, and failures caused by human exhaustion. The dispute between methods lost its meaning; those who knew how to adapt to the context won. Projects became more strategic, guided by value, purpose, and conscious choices for the future. Listen to the podcast to learn more!

In this episode, Ricardo highlights the importance of milestones, baselines, and control points in project management, using December 31st as a powerful example of a milestone, both personally and organizationally. Just as individuals reflect on decisions and plan the future at the end of the year, projects and organizations use milestones to review budgets, compare goals, and consolidate results. Although the calendar is a human convention, milestones provide essential reference points for comparison and control. Without a clear baseline, it is impossible to assess real progress. Projects without milestones rely on perception, while projects with milestones rely on facts. Milestones are not bureaucracy; they are moments of reflection, decision-making, and adjustment that help prevent gradual and unnoticed project deviation. Listen to the podcast to learn more!

In this episode, Ricardo wraps up the discussion on the PMBOK Guide 8th Edition by highlighting the role of artificial intelligence in project management. PMI included AI in Appendix X3, presenting three adoption strategies: automation (making tasks faster), assistance (AI as a partner helping with scheduling and resources), and augmentation (expanding managers’ capabilities and decision-making). The appendix provides practical use cases for governance, risks, resources, scheduling, and other areas. Ricardo emphasizes that AI evolves rapidly, so some examples may soon become outdated, but project managers must understand and leverage AI to remain competitive. Recent research indicates that organizations are already saving significant money by utilizing AI. He encourages readers to study the appendix carefully and stay adaptable. Listen to the podcast to learn more!

In this episode, Ricardo explains that in the PMBOK® 8th Edition, you do not need to memorize all 40 processes. Many of them are very similar, especially in the planning phase, which alone contains 19 processes. He shows that processes like Plan Scope Management, Plan Schedule Management, Plan Financial Management, and Plan Risk Management follow the same logic: they define the “rules of the game” for each performance domain. If you understand one, you know the others. Ricardo advises candidates for CAPM or PMP to focus on understanding the logic and flow of the processes rather than memorizing them, which is less effective for real-world project management. Listen to the podcast to learn more!