# AI ROI Calculator

> Estimate payback and 3-year return for an AI integration from hours saved, hourly cost, and implementation price, before you commit budget.

## Features

- **Payback in months**: Implementation cost divided by projected annual savings, expressed as months to break even.
- **3-year return**: Cumulative 3-year savings against the one-off implementation cost, as a percentage.
- **Assumption-first inputs**: Four inputs you can defend in a budget meeting: hours, hourly cost, automation share, implementation price.

## FAQ

### How is the ROI calculated?

Weekly savings = manual hours × fully loaded hourly cost × expected automation share. Annual savings = weekly savings × 52. Payback = implementation cost ÷ annual savings, in months. The 3-year ROI compares three years of savings against the one-off implementation cost.

### What does "fully loaded hourly cost" mean?

Salary plus employer taxes, tooling, and overhead, typically 1.25–1.4× gross salary per hour. Using bare salary understates the savings.

### How accurate is the result?

It is a screening estimate, not a business case. Before committing budget, measure the baseline workflow (time per task, error rate) for two weeks, we do this in every discovery engagement.

### What automation percentage is realistic?

For document-heavy or triage workflows, 30–60% is common in the first release; near-100% automation is rare and usually not the right target. Start conservative and revise after measuring.