Is this AI opportunity economically worth pursuing?
First-year ROI
-4%Cumulative value, month 0 to 36. Yellow mark is payback.
Workbench
Use a conservative improvement on a measured workflow.
First-year ROI
-4%Cumulative value, month 0 to 36. Yellow mark is payback.
Annual economic surface
$540,000People × loaded cost × time on the workflow.Annual benefit
$94,500At 25% of the addressable share.Sensitivity
$56,700 – $151,200Annual benefit if improvement is 15% or 40%.
How I see it
Fund the work only if the conservative case clears the bar
Business cases often stack best-case time savings and treat the launch invoice as the only cost. A useful ROI is conservative on purpose.
Start from people, loaded cost, and time on the workflow. Apply an addressable share and a conservative improvement. Subtract implementation and the cost to keep the path running.
The tool shows annual benefit, payback, first-year ROI, three-year value, and what happens if improvement is weaker or stronger than the case you entered.
Economic model
Conservative ROI(annual conservative value − annual run cost) ÷ (implementation + first-year extras)
If the ratio only works at aggressive adoption and zero exceptions, do not fund it.
When this is the wrong next step
Do not use this tool to decorate a decision.
- There is no baseline and no plan to take one.
- The initiative is already a committed vendor purchase.
- You need a large positive number more than a decision.
A useful next step
Bring the numbers into a conversation.
The tool is a first cut. If the result is material, we guide the implementation and stay hands-on through operations — or tell you when a simpler answer is better.
Discuss an AI opportunity