Cheetah Learning honors Tessa Reisner for creative project management applications

Cheetah Learning named Tessa Reisner, PMP®, a Distinguished Cheetah Alum for Creative Applications, recognizing her work applying project management and accelerated learning to intelligent automation, AI, and enterprise transformation. Reisner, now a SoftwareOne director, says the discipline helps turn technology pilots into business value at scale.

Why it matters: - Reisner’s recognition highlights how PMP® skills are being used beyond classic project roles and into automation, AI, and enterprise change. - The award underscores a broader shift in value: organizations need leaders who can govern risk, define outcomes, and deliver measurable business results, not just deploy new technology.

What happened: - Cheetah Learning named Tessa Reisner, PMP®, a Distinguished Cheetah Alum in the category of Creative Applications on September 3, 2026. - The award recognizes professionals who apply project management principles and accelerated learning in new industries or areas. - Reisner completed the Cheetah Learning PMP® program in 2022. - Reisner is Director of Consulting, Intelligent Automation, and Application Services at SoftwareOne.

The details: - Reisner leads a consulting and delivery practice serving enterprise clients in oil and gas, energy, finance, manufacturing, and retail. - The practice handles application development and modernization, migrations and integrations, AI pilots and proofs of value, and automation programs across multiple platforms. - Reisner oversees the service line end to end, including strategy, delivery frameworks, quality, client satisfaction, and practice growth. - Reisner also manages teams in North America and globally, oversees the technology partnerships behind the practice, and serves as senior point of escalation for client engagements. - Reisner has mentored emerging leaders in structured project delivery and transformation management. - Reisner said the credential recognized experience she had already built and helped open doors to more complex work. - Reisner said the most rewarding part of her work is applying project discipline in areas the profession is still reaching. - Reisner said the key question for organizations is not what technology can do, but which problems are worth solving and whether the business can absorb the change. - Reisner said clear objectives, governance, risk management, and value realization are what turn a promising pilot into enterprise-scale work. - Reisner learned about Cheetah Learning through several PMP®-certified women in her life and completed the program with support from her mentor and leader, Shayne Dow of Beniva Consulting Group. - Reisner said the hardest part of earning the PMP® was carving out dedicated preparation time while managing a full career. - Reisner said Cheetah Learning’s accelerated method replaced volume with focus and reduced guesswork and stress. - Reisner said Cheetah’s Accelerated Learning method helped unlock knowledge already built through project experience and apply it the way the exam required. - Reisner said the program’s emphasis on focused learning and deliberate breaks stayed with her in daily work. - Reisner said she still uses short breaks, movement, and resets during intensive work. - Reisner said Yoga for Learning breaks felt unconventional at first but improved focus and retention by the second day. - Reisner said she applies project management thinking to home renovations, family gatherings, and travel planning. - Reisner said she pitched her parents as a teenager on hosting a party using what was essentially a project charter with objectives, risks, and mitigations.

Between the lines: - Cheetah Learning is using Reisner’s career as an example of how formal project management training can translate into leadership in fast-moving technical fields. - The award also reinforces the idea that enterprise AI and automation work needs business framing as much as technical expertise. - Reisner’s comments suggest that accelerated learning is presented not as a shortcut, but as a way to structure existing experience for certification and performance.

What's next: - Reisner said the discipline will remain central as she continues leading intelligent automation and AI work. - Cheetah Learning said thousands of professionals have earned PMP® certification through its accelerated learning approach. - The company also positions the method as a way to help professionals earn certifications faster, retain knowledge longer, and apply skills immediately on the job.

The bottom line: - Cheetah Learning is spotlighting Reisner as proof that project management can be a practical operating system for enterprise transformation, especially where AI and automation meet business risk and value.**