Screen your candidate workflows, pick the one to put AI on first, then size the annual value across cost, throughput, and quality.
Two parts. First screen your candidates to decide whether to start. Then size the winner to find out what it is worth, so you can take a real number to your leadership team.
List up to three candidate workflows. Score each test from 1 (weak) to 5 (strong).
| Test | A | B | C |
|---|---|---|---|
| Manual load. People spend real hours on it today. | |||
| Clear return. Doing it faster or better moves money, risk, or capacity. | |||
| Contained downside. If the system is wrong, it is only a recommendation a person can override. | |||
| Few integrations. You can start from one or two inputs. | |||
| Visible win. The team can see it working in weeks, not quarters. | |||
| Total (out of 25) |
Improvement shows up in three places: cost, throughput, and quality. This is a small business case to actually do something, so size each one and total it. Hand this to whoever owns the numbers. They fill the right-hand column, on paper or in a spreadsheet, using the formula next to each line.
| Measure | How to get it | Your number |
|---|---|---|
| Baseline · the work today | ||
| Volume | items per week | |
| Time per item today | minutes | |
| Fully-loaded labor cost | dollars per hour | |
| Hours spent per week | volume × minutes ÷ 60 | |
| Labor cost per year | hours per week × rate × 52 | |
| Cost · the same work, in less time | ||
| Time reduction with AI | percent of the manual time | |
| Labor cost saved per year | labor cost per year × reduction | |
| Throughput · handle more, or win more | ||
| Extra items per week | same team handles more, or you win more by responding faster | |
| Value per item | dollars | |
| Throughput value per year | extra items × value × 52 | |
| Quality · fewer errors, more consistency | ||
| Cost of errors and rework today | dollars per year | |
| Reduction in that cost | percent | |
| Quality value per year | error cost × reduction | |
| The business case | ||
| Estimated annual value | cost saved + throughput + quality | |
| First project cost | dollars, one time | |
| Annual run cost | dollars per year | |
| Simple payback, in months | first project cost ÷ ((annual value - run cost) ÷ 12) | |