Makefiles, commonly associated with compiling C/C++ projects, can also be effectively utilized in Python projects to automate various development tasks, thus streamlining the process. They are beneficial for managing dependencies, running tests, building documentation, formatting code, performing static analysis, cleaning up temporary files, managing virtual environments, building distributions, and deploying code. Incorporating a Makefile into a project can save time and enhance the development experience by simplifying these tasks for developers.