AI ROI calculator — payback and 3-year net
Estimate hours saved, payback in months and 3-year net savings from AI automation. Industry automation rates from McKinsey and Deloitte, AppForge implementation bands from public pricing.md, every formula on the page.
Inputs
Free, no signup. Email me the detailed result if you want it.
How many people work on these tasks day to day.
How much weekly time goes into them.
Salary + payroll taxes + office + overhead.
Band: 3 000 000 Ft – 8 000 000 Ft (default midpoint).
Defaults from McKinsey / Deloitte / Forrester process automation studies. Industry spread 30–80%.
Estimated annual hours saved
2,400 hrs
10 staff × 8 hrs/week × 50 weeks × 60% weighted rate
Payback
2.8 months
Implementation: 5 500 000 Ft ÷ monthly savings: 2 000 000 Ft
3-year net savings · ROI
61 550 000 Ft
3-year ROI: 589% · 3 years of maintenance at 30%/yr
Show your math
- Weighted automation rate: 60% (average of 3 process types)
- Total annual work hours: 4,000 hrs
- Annual hours saved: 2,400 hrs
- Annual cost saved: 24 000 000 Ft
- Annual maintenance (30% × implementation): 1 650 000 Ft
- 3-year investment (impl + 3 × maintenance): 10 450 000 Ft
Project automation rates range 30–80%. Defaults are documented industry averages from McKinsey and Deloitte automation studies.
What to do with the result
The estimated ROI uses industry averages. Once a pilot validates, we run a 30-minute scoping call and respond with exact scope, a concrete pilot process and a fixed-price quote.
Every formula, every source
No black box. Automation rates come from industry research, implementation bands come from AppForge public pricing, maintenance comes from the enterprise rule of thumb. Change any input and the math updates live.
1. Weighted automation rate
weighted_rate = average of selected process types' rates
Default rates from industry research: document classification 60%, email triage 50%, tier-1 customer support 40%, data entry 70%, standard reporting 50%, contract review 35%, lead qualification 65%. The calculator takes a simple average of the rates for the process types you select.
Important: McKinsey's industry spread is 30–80%. Defaults are the market median. Use 30–50% for a conservative estimate, 60–80% for an optimistic scenario.
Source: McKinsey & Co. — The state of AI
2. Annual hours saved
annual_hours_saved = staff × hours_per_week × 50 weeks × weighted_rate
We use 50 working weeks because typical EU markets average 11 vacation days plus 10 public holidays — about 2 weeks off. Multiply staff × hours_per_week to get total weekly hours, scale by 50, then apply the weighted rate to get the AI-saved hours.
3. Annual cost savings
annual_cost_saved = annual_hours_saved × burdened_hourly_cost
Burdened hourly cost includes salary plus payroll taxes, office and overhead. The Hungarian mid-market range is 9,000– 12,000 HUF/hour for 50–250 staff companies. The calculator defaults to 10,000 HUF/hour; replace with your HR figure for a sharper output.
Source: MNB — Hungarian wage statistics
4. Implementation cost
impl_cost = midpoint of the selected complexity band (chatbot 2 M / RAG 5.5 M / custom 10 M HUF)
AppForge public bands: AI chatbot 1–3 M HUF (4–6 weeks), AI RAG 3–8 M HUF (2–4 months), custom AI 5–15 M HUF (3–9 months). The calculator defaults to the band midpoint. Override with a more specific project budget if you have one.
Source: AppForge pricing.md
5. Annual maintenance
annual_maintenance = impl_cost × 0.30
30%/yr is a conservative, transparent default. AI systems justify it especially well because of model upgrades, prompt tuning and periodic retraining. Your real contract may land between 15% and 35%.
6. Payback and 3-year value
payback_months = impl_cost / (annual_cost_saved / 12) · 3yr_net = (3 × annual_saved) − impl − (3 × maint) · 3yr_ROI_% = 3yr_net / (impl + 3 × maint) × 100
Payback months is how long monthly savings take to recover the implementation cost. The 3-year ROI shows what percentage of the total investment the system returns over 3 years. For Hungarian SMEs, sub-12-month payback and 100%+ 3-year ROI is the typical green-light threshold.
Source: AppForge internal methodology
What the result means
Payback under 12 months
Strong business case. CFOs typically green-light without a formal business case. Next step: 30-minute scoping call to lock process priority, data preparation scope and a fixed-price project quote.
12–24 months payback
Strategic investment. Usually requires a formal business case, but the math still defends. Smart move: start with an MVP — a 4–8 week pilot, one process type, measurable outcome. If the pilot validates, additional process types come in later phases.
Payback above 24 months
Either the volume is too small or the implementation is too large. Two questions: can you add another process type to the scope, or is a chatbot-tier solution a better starting point? Usually a re-scope brings payback back inside 12 months.
Negative 3-year net
Implementation plus 3 years of maintenance exceeds savings. That does not mean the project is bad — qualitative gains (customer experience, error rate, speed) are not in the model. But it is hard to defend in front of a CFO on financial grounds alone.
Honest disclaimer
Project automation rates range 30–80%. Defaults are documented industry averages from McKinsey and Deloitte automation studies. The calculator outputs estimated values — actual ROI depends on process granularity, data quality and user adoption. We score these on a 30-minute scoping call.
AI ROI calculator — frequently asked
Defaults (60% document classification, 50% email triage, 40% tier-1 customer support, 70% data entry, 50% standard reporting, 35% contract review, 65% lead qualification) are taken from McKinsey, Deloitte and Forrester process automation studies. They are documented industry averages from real case studies. Your project's actual rate can range 30–80% depending on process variability, data quality and how much human review is retained. Every default in the calculator is overrideable so you can plug in your own estimate.
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Talk to us about your AI project
AI ROI is rarely black and white. A 30-minute call covers process priority, data preparation and pilot scope. Phone +36 30 098 0767, email balint@appforge.hu, or visit us in Budapest.
Budapest office: 1054 Budapest, Szabadság tér 7. (Bank Center), 1st floor, office 112 · Mon–Fri 9:00–18:00 by appointment.Get a custom AI quote within 24 hours
The calculator uses industry averages. We respond with a project-specific pilot scope, price and timeline within one business day.