The Case for Splitting Account Management & Project Management, with Brett Harned

Welcome to episode 141. I'm chatting to Brett Harned, a consultant, coach, and author with 20+ years of experience leading digital and creative teams. He helps organisations solve people, process, and culture challenges with a strategic, human-centred approach. A longtime voice in the PM community, Brett founded the Digital PM Summit, wrote Project Management for Humans, and shares practical insights at BrettHarned.com. If you've ever wondered whether account management and project management should be separate roles in your agency, or maybe how AI might be reshaping both of these roles, then this episode is going to be packed with insights for you. We talk about: • what makes a successful hybrid AM-PM and why it's so hard to find one • the structure and support needed to make hybrid roles work • how to start separating AM and PM roles without blowing up your team or your client relationships • what agencies need to do now to adapt to AI • the project-based future of our industry • and why focusing on people not just process or tools is the secret to great project delivery. If you are currently navigating the complexities of the AM/PM roles in your agency, or you're thinking about making the switch, then why not come and join Brett and I, and David C Baker, for the annual AM and PM seminar in Atlanta on 23rd & 24th September 2025. And, if you want to stay ahead on topics like this and anything to do with client relationship management, agency growth, and the ever-evolving role of AI, then make sure you're signed up to my newsletter, in which I share practical tips, new podcast episodes, updates and mini trainings. Visit my website to subscribe and there you’ll also find my AI-readiness quiz. https://www.accountmanagementskills.com