What's an AI Project Actually Worth?
Labor savings is half the story. AI infrastructure cost is the other half. This calculator does both.
Takes 60 seconds. No login required.
Your AI-eligible workflow
Estimate the shape of the manual work that AI could handle. We model both the labor savings and the AI infrastructure cost.
Time spent on the work AI would assist with
AI tends to assist knowledge work, so rates run higher
Most projects automate 40-75% of the targeted task
Advanced: AI infrastructure cost + project cost
OpenAI/Anthropic API spend at expected volume
Our AI Automation engagements start at $15,000
The formula
How the Math Works
Both sides of the ledger — labor saved and API spent. No hidden assumptions.
Annual hours saved
Hours/week × team size × 52 weeks × % automatable. Most projects automate 40–75% of the targeted manual work.
Labor savings
Annual hours saved × hourly rate. Use the fully-loaded rate (salary + benefits + overhead).
AI infrastructure cost
Monthly OpenAI/Anthropic API spend × 12. Easy to underestimate — token costs add up fast on high-volume workflows.
Net benefit
Labor savings minus infrastructure cost. This is the honest number — many AI ROI calculators skip the infrastructure side.
Worked examples
What These Numbers Look Like in Practice
Three AI use cases we see most often. Plug similar shapes in above to see your equivalent.
Customer support tier-1 triage
8 hrs/week × 12 agents × $45/hr × 70% automatable, $400/mo Claude API → ~$118K/yr labor + ~$5K/yr API → ~$113K net.
Weekly executive summary writing
6 hrs/week × 3 directors × $120/hr × 65% automatable, $200/mo OpenAI → ~$73K/yr labor + ~$2.4K/yr API → ~$70K net.
Document classification + extraction
20 hrs/week × 6 ops staff × $40/hr × 80% automatable, $600/mo API → ~$200K/yr labor + ~$7K/yr API → ~$193K net.
ROI Look Real?
Schedule a 30-minute AI strategy call. We'll review your workflow + send a written scoping recommendation within a week.