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Purpose This study explores how generative artificial intelligence (AI) bridges creativity and structured project management in agricultural initiatives. It investigates how AI-supported project management enhances innovation, collaboration, and adaptive decision-making within the Nigerian agricultural sector. Design/methodology/approach The research adopts a qualitative multiple-case study approach, drawing information from 25 agricultural cooperatives, extension services, and AI-enabled farm projects across Northern and Southwestern Nigeria. Semi-structured interviews and document reviews were analyzed thematically using Dynamic Capabilities Theory and Socio-Technical Systems Theory as guiding lenses. Findings The study reveals that generative AI transforms project management roles from administrative supervision to facilitation of creative decision-making. AI platforms foster fast collaboration, simulation, and experimentation and allow teams to test innovative ideas without jeopardizing structured workflows. Primary enablers include leadership support, strategic alignment, training, and reliable digital infrastructure. However, barriers such as limited digital literacy, resistance to change, and ethical concerns constrain adoption. The findings led to the development of the Techno-Creative Alignment Framework, which explains how human collaboration, ethical awareness, and AI intelligence interact to balance innovation and structured project execution. Originality/value This research contributes to the limited scholarship on AI's double role in fostering creativity and structure within project-based agricultural innovation, offering both conceptual and contextual insights relevant to developing economies. Beyond national relevance, it offers international contributions by positioning developing economies as laboratories of adaptive innovation to illustrate how AI can serve as a transformative equalizer instead of just a tool for efficiency. The findings provide a comparative perspective for global project management scholarship to highlight how lessons from the Global South can inform responsible AI integration in agricultural innovation worldwide.
Joy Eghonghon Akahome (Tue,) studied this question.