What it helps you do
Before you commit budget to an AI project, it helps to know whether the numbers can work. This calculator turns figures you already know, such as team size, time spent on a task and cost per hour, into an estimate of savings, payback period and return over one to three years. Use it to compare ideas, test your assumptions and prepare a first business case.
How to use it
- 01Choose the process you want to automate and your currency.
- 02Enter how many people do the task, how many hours each spends on it per week, and their fully loaded hourly cost.
- 03Set the share of time AI could save. If you are unsure, start at 30 to 40 percent and try values either side.
- 04Add error or rework costs if they matter for this process, then enter the one-time implementation cost and the monthly running cost.
- 05Choose the period to evaluate, then read the result cards, chart and summary.
Reading the results
ROI shows the net return as a percentage of everything you spend over the period. Payback is the number of months it takes for monthly savings, after running costs, to cover the implementation cost. The chart compares cumulative cost and cumulative benefit month by month, and the marked point is where benefit overtakes cost. Hours freed is the time returned to your team each year.
How we calculate AI ROI
- Current annual cost
- People × hours per week × hourly cost × 52 weeks.
- Labour savings
- Current annual cost × the share of time AI saves.
- Error savings
- Monthly cost of errors × 12 × the expected reduction.
- Total annual benefit
- Labour savings plus error savings.
- Total cost
- Implementation cost plus the monthly running cost for every month in the period.
- Net benefit
- Total annual benefit × years, minus total cost.
- ROI
- Net benefit divided by total cost, as a percentage.
- Payback
- Implementation cost divided by the monthly benefit left after running costs. If running costs are equal to or higher than the monthly benefit, there is no payback at those numbers.
- Hours freed
- People × hours per week × 52 × the share of time AI saves.
The calculator does not discount future savings or model a ramp-up period. Benefits are counted from the first month, so results for long or complex rollouts will be optimistic.
A worked example
A support team of 5 people spends 20 hours each per week answering routine tickets, at a fully loaded cost of ₹600 an hour. That work costs ₹31.2 lakh a year. If AI saves 40 percent of the time, labour savings are ₹12.48 lakh a year. Errors and rework cost ₹50,000 a month, and a 20 percent reduction adds ₹1.2 lakh a year, for a total benefit of ₹13.68 lakh a year.
Implementation costs ₹8 lakh and running costs are ₹25,000 a month, so the total cost over 3 years is ₹17 lakh. The net benefit is ₹24.04 lakh, ROI is 141 percent, the project pays back in about 9 months, and the team gets back 2,080 hours a year. These are the calculator's example values, chosen for illustration.
What to do after you calculate
A positive result means the idea is worth a closer look, not that it is ready to build. Score it against your other candidates with the AI Use-Case Prioritization Scorecard, then write a brief with the AI Project Scoping Template that records your baseline and success metric.
Replace each estimate with measured figures from a small pilot before you commit a full budget. If you would like help planning that pilot, our AI consulting and AI agent development teams can work through it with you.
Frequently asked questions
How accurate is this calculator?
It is as accurate as the numbers you enter. The calculator applies standard formulas to your inputs; it does not know your process, data or team. Treat the result as a first estimate to test an idea, then replace each assumption with measured figures from a pilot before you commit a full budget.
What should I include in the hourly cost?
Use the fully loaded cost: salary plus benefits, payroll taxes, equipment, software and a share of management and office overhead, divided by the hours worked in a year. Your finance team will usually have a standard figure. Using salary alone understates what the work costs and makes savings look smaller than they are.
How do I estimate the share of time AI can save?
List the steps in the task and mark the ones AI could do or draft. Then time a sample of real cases before and after a small test. If you have no data yet, run the calculator at a low, middle and high value to see how much the result depends on this one assumption.
What costs are not included?
The calculator covers implementation and monthly running costs only. It does not include internal staff time on the project, training, change management, data preparation or the time people spend reviewing AI output. If any of these are significant for your project, add them to the implementation or monthly cost.
Do saved hours mean we need fewer people?
Not necessarily. Most teams use freed time for work that was being delayed, such as faster responses, more follow-ups or better quality checks. The calculator values saved hours at their cost because that is a common way to compare projects. Decide with your team how the time will actually be used.