ROI calculator for an AI support agent

Estimate monthly net gain, payback time and the factors that can cancel profitability: supervision, escalations, errors and maintenance.

Starting values: an example scope that does not pay back, worked through below. Replace them with your own figures.

Your assumptions

Result

Monthly net gain …

Fill in the fields to get a reading.

From gross gain to net gain, per month. In red, human time: supervision and escalation recovery. In copper, the tool and its maintenance. In grey, the error cost you enter.
  1. Gross gain…
  2. Tool / infra…
  3. Supervision…
  4. Maintenance…
  5. Escalations…
  6. Errors…
  7. Net gain…
Automatable tickets
…
Hours saved / month
…
Monthly gross gain
…
Recurring costs
…
Payback period
…

The formula used

The calculation does not start from an automation-rate promise. It starts from the time actually removed, then subtracts the recurring costs.

Automatable tickets = monthly tickets × automatable share
Gross gain = automatable tickets × minutes saved × loaded minute cost
Net gain = gross gain - tool - supervision - maintenance - escalations - errors
Payback period = setup cost / monthly net gain

Example using the simulator’s initial values: 1,200 tickets/month × 35% = 420 automatable tickets; 8 minutes saved per ticket = 56 hours/month; at a €35 loaded hourly cost (about €0.58/min), gross gain is €1,960/month. Subtract €600 for tools, €630 for supervision (18 hours × €35/hour), €750 for maintenance, €245 for escalations (420 × 25% × 4 min × €35/hour ÷ 60) and €250 for errors: recurring costs total €2,475/month. Net gain is therefore −€515/month: the €12,000 setup cost cannot be paid back under these assumptions. Replace them with your own figures.

How to read the result

  1. Positive ROI

    The scope deserves a short pilot if the gain remains positive with cautious assumptions.

  2. Fragile ROI

    Narrow the scope to frequent, well-documented and low-risk tickets before building.

  3. Negative ROI

    Start by classifying requests, cleaning the knowledge base or automating a fixed process instead.

Start with one workflowRead the complete method