Students of Project Planning and Management from the Faculty of Business and Management Sciences, University of Nairobi have been challenged to embrace innovation and leadership.  

This was the rallying call at the Project Management Institute Students Forum held at the New Lecture Theatre on November 20, 2025.

Dean, Prof. Kennedy Ogollah urged the competing teams to bring out their best. "It is not in winning that we succeed, its in trying that we succeed, " he said. To those who may not be successful today, just be humble, there are more opportunities in life. 

The Dean also challenged students to be the leaders in the market place. "Dont you know that you will be leaders managing projects in health, environment, construction, law, real estate, roads schools among others?" he asked. Projects are in all spheres of life, he added. 

Lessie Roberts, President of Project Management Association, Faculty of Business and Management Sciences, University of Nairobi also urged students to tap into the wealth of experience from the Experts in Tech Industry, more so those from Oracle, the technology giant.

Associate Dean, Undergraduate Studies, Dr. Reuben Kikwatha, thanked PMI Kenya for partnering with the Faculty. of Business and Management Sciences. He noted that this is the 3rd event in six month, the last one being the PMI Youth Summit at Main Campus in October 2025. 

"I am glad we are building the future together with the industry," he said. He encouraged students to embrace entrepreneurship, innovation and leadership.   

Speaker after speaker challenged students to embrace entrepreneurship and to dream to be the future employers, rather than being employees. 

Students were also challenged to embrace technology and innovation and more specifically, artificial intelligence.  

Essentials Skills for AI that were mentioned include: basic coding, AI tool proficiency, data literacy, Automation platforms, prompt engineering. Students were also challenged to learn human skills like empathy, emotional intelligence, adaptability and communication. Students were told to learn AI tools like: Perplexity, Interview Coach, Google Studio AI, Julius AI among others.