Framework 06 · Before you build
One formula, your own numbers. We measure hours, cost and revenue before anything is built, so the decision to go ahead is a business decision.
In short
The ROI model works out the return on an AI project before it is built. Monthly return equals hours saved times the loaded hourly cost, plus any extra revenue from faster replies or fewer lost leads, minus the monthly running cost. Divide the one-time build cost by the monthly return to get the payback period in months. We fill it with your own numbers during the AI Audit and check it again after the pilot.
How many hours a week the process takes today, by role, measured over at least one normal week.
Salary plus visa, housing, insurance and other costs, per hour, agreed with finance.
Only where it can be measured: faster replies, fewer lost leads, more bookings.
One-time build, monthly agent subscriptions, AI usage and channel fees such as WhatsApp.
The estimate is replaced with measured numbers from the pilot before you sign a build.
Deliverables
Who does what
The formula
Monthly return = (hours saved × loaded hourly cost) + revenue lift − monthly running cost Payback (months) = one-time build cost ÷ monthly return
Two coordinators spend 15 hours a week each typing supplier invoices: about 130 hours a month.
An agent removes 70% of the work: about 91 hours a month.
At a loaded cost of AED 80 an hour: about AED 7,280 a month.
Minus a Document Processor at AED 1,190 a month: about AED 6,090 a month, so a AED 14,500 Starter build pays back in under three months.
This worked example uses round, illustrative numbers. Your own figures come from the audit and the pilot.
The full cost of an hour of someone’s time: salary plus visa, housing, insurance, equipment and other costs, divided by working hours.
Only where it can be measured, such as more meetings booked from faster lead replies. Otherwise we count hours and errors only.
Then we say so and suggest a different process, a cheaper tool or no project at all.
The pilot replaces the estimate with measured results, and the live system is reviewed every quarter.
Insights
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Read reportBring one process and its hours. We will show the return and the payback in a 30-minute demo.