AI automation · Process automation ROI calculator
Process automation ROI calculator
One key process, and what an AI agent gives back
Answer five quick questions about the process your firm leans on most, and see the time an AI agent frees up, what that time is worth, and how much of it can become profit.
A free tool from Softblues. No sign-up. Your answers are worked out in your browser. They are not sent with a booking unless you choose to share them.
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- Member of the Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Program
What is this process worth with an AI agent?
An agent takes on the repeatable part of a process: it reads the request, does the checks and prepares the work, and a person signs off. The hours it frees up are capacity. They become profit when you decide what they do.
Example:order-to-schedule booking at a logistics firm, 8 people, two hires planned
Once the agent runs at full speed, from month 6, it frees up about 113 hours a week on order-to-schedule booking, the time of 3.0 people. The same team could handle twice as much of this work. That time is worth £135,000 a year at what it costs you. It adds £90,000 a year to profit, from 2 planned hires you no longer need, and the time of 1.0 more people is yours to decide. At typical prices the agent pays for itself by month 10.
- Time freed up
- 3.0people · 113 hours a week
- What that time is worth
- £135,000a year
- Added to profit
- £90,000a year
- Still to decide
- 1.0people
It frees up the time of one and a half people or more. At that scale we usually recommend building an agent.
First gain to profit: month 5 · Pays for itself: month 10, at typical prices
Closest example on our site: Order-to-schedule automation for a secure logistics operator (anonymised, discovery delivered).
What changes in a week?
Today this process takes 225 hours a week across 8 people. With an agent doing about 50% of it, people spend 112 hours: checking the agent's work, deciding and handling the exceptions.
The cards below show the room the agent makes before you decide what to do with it. Time you put to use further down is no longer spare.
A week on this process
- People's hours
- Work the agent does, checked by a person
If the work grows
No new hires needed
Today, 50% more work needs the time of 3.0 more people. With the agent, the team you have can absorb it.
If someone leaves
Covered with the agent
Today the team is short of 0.8 people's time on this work until a replacement is up to speed, which takes about 28 weeks on average in the UK. With the agent, the 7 who stay can cover it.
The agent and when it runs
A medium agent with one connector to your systems. Discovery in month 1, build in months 2 to 4, live in month 5 at half speed, full speed from month 6.
- Discovery
- Build
- Half speed
- Full speed
How does the time turn into profit?
Time an agent frees up is capacity. It becomes profit only when you decide what it does: save a cost you would otherwise pay, grow the work with the same team, or protect against a loss. Anything you have not decided stays as time.
Save
Costs you would not pay
A hire waits only when the agent frees a whole person's time. 2 of 2 can wait.
Grow
More work with the same team
Say yes if demand is there and this process is what holds it back.
Protect
Losses you would avoid
Mistakes and rework, penalties, missed deadlines, or cover when a key person is away or leaves. Use your own figure. For scale, replacing one employee cost UK firms about £30,600 on average, most of it in lost output while the new person learned the job (Oxford Economics for Unum, 2014).
- Added to profit
- £90,000 a year
- Still to decide
- 1.0 people
Change the assumptions
What would your board see?
One page for the people who decide: the process today and with an agent, what it adds to profit and when, and what a discovery would confirm before anyone signs.
Example: Order-to-schedule booking, logistics and distribution, 8 people, most of their week, several systems
| Order-to-schedule booking | Today | With the agent |
|---|---|---|
| People's hours a week | 225 | 112 |
| People's time on it | 6.0 people | 3.0 people |
| Work the same team can handle | Today's volume | Twice as much |
| If one person leaves | Short of 0.8 people's time | The team can cover it |
| Added to profit | None | £90,000 a year |
- Added to profit
- £90,000
- a year at full speed
- First gain to profit
- Month 5
- Pays for itself
- Month 10
- at typical prices
- Year two
- £90,000
- added to profit
Added to profit, month by month
Each bar is one month's gain from the decisions above. It shows no costs.
- Full speed
- Half speed
Show the months
| Month | Speed | Added to profit that month |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Not running | £0 |
| 2 | Not running | £0 |
| 3 | Not running | £0 |
| 4 | Not running | £0 |
| 5 | Half | £4,000 |
| 6 | Full | £8,000 |
| 7 | Full | £8,000 |
| 8 | Full | £8,000 |
| 9 | Full | £8,000 |
| 10 | Full | £8,000 |
| 11 | Full | £8,000 |
| 12 | Full | £8,000 |
| 13 | Full | £8,000 |
| 14 | Full | £8,000 |
| 15 | Full | £8,000 |
| 16 | Full | £8,000 |
| 17 | Full | £8,000 |
| 18 | Full | £8,000 |
| 19 | Full | £8,000 |
| 20 | Full | £8,000 |
| 21 | Full | £8,000 |
| 22 | Full | £8,000 |
| 23 | Full | £8,000 |
| 24 | Full | £8,000 |
The agent frees up the time of 3.0 people. It adds £90,000 a year to profit through the decisions above, and at typical prices it pays for itself by month 10. A discovery confirms the volumes, the share an agent can do and a fixed price.
Worked out at softblues.io/ai-automation/roi-calculator on . Illustrative starting assumptions; a discovery replaces them with your own numbers.
How do you get these numbers for your own process?
In a process discovery. In two to four weeks, or two to three for a smaller process, we map the process end to end with the people who run it, measure the real volumes and hours, test how much of the work an agent can do safely, and come back with a fixed price and a payback line. If the numbers do not work, we say so, and you keep the map.
What the discovery confirms
- The real volume of work and the hours it takes, measured on a normal week.
- How much of it an agent can do, and where a person must stay in charge.
- The systems it needs to reach, and what it takes to connect them.
- Which decision turns the time into profit, and who confirms it.
- A fixed price for the build and the month it pays for itself.
We reply within 24 hours.
Bring these to the first call
The process you picked, roughly how many items it handles a month, who signs the work off today, and the decision you would make with the time. The answers on this page are enough to start.
What does the process automation ROI calculator do?
It shows what one AI agent on one key process gives back: the hours it frees up, what that time is worth, how much becomes profit, and when it pays for itself. It is free, needs no sign-up, and works out everything in your browser.
What you answer
Five questions: your industry, the process, how many people work on it and for how much of their week, where the work comes from, and what makes it matter.
What you get
Hours freed up, the time of how many people, what that time is worth, how much of it is profit, what is still to decide, the first month with a gain and the month it pays for itself.
How it counts profit
Only where a decision puts the time to use: a planned hire that can wait, spend you switch off, more work with the same team (margin only), or a loss you avoid.
Industries
Twelve. Eleven have three typical processes of their own, and every firm can pick one of four general processes.
What it will not do
Show our prices, count hours as profit, or let a planned hire wait for less than a whole person's time.
Cost
Free. No sign-up.
Based in
London-based, working with mid-market firms.
What does one agent free up in each industry?
At a typical firm of 120 people, an agent on each industry's main process frees up the time of 2.1 to 7.5 people, worth £95,000 to £338,000 a year. Where the firm was going to hire for that work, the first gain to profit comes in month 5 or 6, and the agent pays for itself by month 8 to 10, at typical prices.
| Industry | Process | People on it | Hours a week today | Time freed up | What that time is worth | Agent | If you were going to hire for it: hires that can wait | Added to profit | Pays for itself by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Financial services and insurance | Compliance file review | 7, 60% of their week | 158 | 2.1 people (79 h) | £95,000 a year | Medium | 2 | £90,000 a year | month 10 |
| Legal | Matter intake and file opening | 22, 40% of their week | 330 | 4.4 people (165 h) | £198,000 a year | Large | 4 | £180,000 a year | month 9 |
| Accounting and tax | Bank reconciliations and month-end | 17, 50% of their week | 319 | 4.3 people (159 h) | £191,000 a year | Large | 4 | £180,000 a year | month 9 |
| Healthcare and life sciences | Clinical letters and documentation | 12, 50% of their week | 225 | 3.0 people (113 h) | £135,000 a year | Medium | 3 | £135,000 a year | month 8 |
| Property and construction | Tender and bid preparation | 12, 50% of their week | 225 | 3.0 people (113 h) | £135,000 a year | Medium | 3 | £135,000 a year | month 8 |
| Manufacturing | Quotes and estimates | 18, 40% of their week | 270 | 3.6 people (135 h) | £162,000 a year | Medium | 3 | £135,000 a year | month 8 |
| Logistics and distribution | Order-to-schedule booking | 24, 40% of their week | 360 | 4.8 people (180 h) | £216,000 a year | Large | 4 | £180,000 a year | month 9 |
| Retail and e-commerce | Customer emails, returns and refunds | 30, 50% of their week | 563 | 7.5 people (281 h) | £338,000 a year | Large | 7 | £315,000 a year | month 8 |
| Technology and software | First-line support tickets | 18, 50% of their week | 338 | 4.5 people (169 h) | £203,000 a year | Large | 4 | £180,000 a year | month 9 |
| Marketing and creative | Campaign reporting for clients | 18, 35% of their week | 236 | 3.1 people (118 h) | £142,000 a year | Medium | 3 | £135,000 a year | month 8 |
| Recruitment and staffing | CV screening and shortlists | 18, 50% of their week | 338 | 4.5 people (169 h) | £203,000 a year | Large | 4 | £180,000 a year | month 9 |
| Something else | Checking or preparing documents | 30, 30% of their week | 338 | 4.5 people (169 h) | £203,000 a year | Large | 4 | £180,000 a year | month 9 |
How does it change with the size of the firm?
The same process at firms of 45, 120 and 250 people. Team sizes follow each industry's typical shape.
| Industry | Process | 45 people | 120 people | 250 people |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Financial services and insurance | Compliance file review | 0.9 people freed, £41,000 a year (3 on it) | 2.1 people freed, £95,000 a year (7 on it) | 4.5 people freed, £203,000 a year (15 on it) |
| Legal | Matter intake and file opening | 1.6 people freed, £72,000 a year (8 on it) | 4.4 people freed, £198,000 a year (22 on it) | 9.0 people freed, £405,000 a year (45 on it) |
| Accounting and tax | Bank reconciliations and month-end | 1.5 people freed, £68,000 a year (6 on it) | 4.3 people freed, £191,000 a year (17 on it) | 8.8 people freed, £394,000 a year (35 on it) |
| Healthcare and life sciences | Clinical letters and documentation | 1.3 people freed, £56,000 a year (5 on it) | 3.0 people freed, £135,000 a year (12 on it) | 6.3 people freed, £281,000 a year (25 on it) |
| Property and construction | Tender and bid preparation | 1.3 people freed, £56,000 a year (5 on it) | 3.0 people freed, £135,000 a year (12 on it) | 6.3 people freed, £281,000 a year (25 on it) |
| Manufacturing | Quotes and estimates | 1.4 people freed, £63,000 a year (7 on it) | 3.6 people freed, £162,000 a year (18 on it) | 7.6 people freed, £342,000 a year (38 on it) |
| Logistics and distribution | Order-to-schedule booking | 1.8 people freed, £81,000 a year (9 on it) | 4.8 people freed, £216,000 a year (24 on it) | 10.0 people freed, £450,000 a year (50 on it) |
| Retail and e-commerce | Customer emails, returns and refunds | 2.8 people freed, £124,000 a year (11 on it) | 7.5 people freed, £338,000 a year (30 on it) | 15.8 people freed, £709,000 a year (63 on it) |
| Technology and software | First-line support tickets | 1.8 people freed, £79,000 a year (7 on it) | 4.5 people freed, £203,000 a year (18 on it) | 9.5 people freed, £428,000 a year (38 on it) |
| Marketing and creative | Campaign reporting for clients | 1.2 people freed, £55,000 a year (7 on it) | 3.1 people freed, £142,000 a year (18 on it) | 6.7 people freed, £299,000 a year (38 on it) |
| Recruitment and staffing | CV screening and shortlists | 1.8 people freed, £79,000 a year (7 on it) | 4.5 people freed, £203,000 a year (18 on it) | 9.5 people freed, £428,000 a year (38 on it) |
| Something else | Checking or preparing documents | 1.7 people freed, £74,000 a year (11 on it) | 4.5 people freed, £203,000 a year (30 on it) | 9.5 people freed, £425,000 a year (63 on it) |
Illustrative team shapes and agent shares. Loaded cost £45,000 a year. Expected case. "Pays for itself" includes our work at typical prices.
How do you work out whether automating a process is worth it?
Start with the work, and leave the money until last. Measure what the process takes today, estimate how much of it an agent can do, decide what the freed time will do, and only then set the whole cost against the gain.
Pick one process and its owner.
A piece of work that recurs, takes real hours, and has one person who answers for it. If the steps are about to change, agree the new steps first.
Measure a normal week.
Count the work and add up the hands-on time of everyone who touches it, including checking and corrections. Work that peaks monthly or seasonally needs a sample that shows the peak.
Decide what the time will do.
Hours an agent frees up are capacity. They become profit in three ways only: save a cost (a planned hire that can wait, overtime or outsourcing you stop), grow the work with the same team, or protect against a loss you can name. Anything else stays as time, which is still useful, but it is not profit.
Set the whole cost against the gain, month by month.
Discovery, the build, the connection to your systems, running and support, against the gain from the decisions in step 3, from the month the agent goes live. A planned hire waits only when the agent has freed a whole person's time.
When is a process worth an agent?
When it recurs every month in volume, a hundred items or more, takes the time of at least one and a half people between everyone who touches it, or holds back sales. Below about 15 hours a week, the AI assistant your team already has usually does the job for less.
Where do the starting figures come from?
Some come from published research and some are our own starting assumptions. Each is labelled, and the ones that matter most can be changed in the calculator.
| Assumption | Starting figure | Type | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Processes, team shapes and the share of each process an agent does | By industry, mostly half the work | Illustrative | Our starting assumption for a typical UK firm of that kind, the same as on the whole-firm calculator. A discovery measures the real share. |
| Loaded cost of one person | £45,000 a year | Example figure | Pay plus employer costs. Change it to yours. |
| Cautious case | 40% less from the agent | Illustrative | The same cut as on the whole-firm calculator. |
| Time for a new person to reach full speed | About 28 weeks | Third party | Oxford Economics for Unum, 2014, across five sectors including legal, accountancy, retail, and IT and tech. |
| Cost of replacing one employee | About £30,600 | Third party | Same study: £30,614 on average, of which £25,181 is lost output while the new person learns the job. Shown for scale only; the calculator never adds it for you. |
| How long the agent takes to build | One to four months | Our practice | Small agents in about a month; medium and large ones after a paid discovery, in three to four months. |
| Typical prices for discovery, the build and support | Not shown | Our practice | Used only to work out the payback month. A discovery gives you a fixed price. |
Last updated: 1 October 2026
Common questions about the process automation ROI calculator
How do you calculate the ROI of process automation?
Measure the hours the process takes, estimate the share an agent can do, and turn the freed hours into money only where a decision puts them to use: a planned hire that can wait, spend you switch off, more work with the same team, or a loss you avoid. Then set the whole cost, including discovery, the build, connecting your systems and support, against that gain month by month.
How long does process automation take to pay back?
It depends on what the freed time does. At a typical firm of 120 people, where the firm was going to hire for the work an agent frees up, the agent pays for itself by month 8 to 10 at typical prices, with the first gain in month 5 or 6. If none of the time is put to use, it never pays back, however many hours it frees.
Why is time freed up not the same as profit?
Because an hour freed only becomes money when something changes: a hire you do not make, a contractor you stop paying, work you can now sell, or a loss you avoid. Until then it is capacity. It is useful, and the calculator shows what it is worth, but it does not count it as profit.
Which processes are worth automating with an AI agent?
Work that recurs every month in volume, takes real hours across several people, and follows rules a person can write down, with someone to sign off the exceptions. As a rule of thumb, an agent is worth building when it would free up the time of one and a half people or more, or when the process holds back sales. Below about 15 hours a week, the AI assistant your team already has usually does the job.
What if the process depends on one or two people?
The calculator shows whether the rest of the team could cover someone leaving, today and with an agent. With an agent doing half the work, a team of two or more can usually cover one leaver, and a one-person process keeps half its work running while you replace them. If you can put a figure on the risk, add it as a loss you would avoid.
Can I show my board a credible automation ROI before we build anything?
Yes. The board page sets out the process today and with an agent, what it adds to profit and when, and it counts only what a decision confirms. It uses starting assumptions, so treat it as the case for a discovery. The discovery measures your real volumes and comes back with a fixed price and a payback line.
Why are there no prices on this page?
Because the right price depends on your process and your systems, and we would rather quote it properly than guess. The payback month uses our typical prices, so it is realistic. A discovery gives you a fixed price before you commit to a build.
How is this different from the AI ROI calculator for the whole firm?
This page looks at one key process and one agent. The AI ROI calculator for the whole firm looks at everyone: a governed AI assistant, training, access to your data and several agents over two years. Start here if one process holds you back; start there if you want the whole firm to work with AI.
What happens to my answers?
Nothing you enter leaves your browser. We count how many people use each step, never what they enter, and your answers are not sent with a booking unless you choose to share them.
Where to go next
- What process discovery includesThe paid step that maps one process end to end.
- See a process discovery and proposal exampleA discovery and the proposal that came out of it. Not a deployed system and not a measured saving.
- AI ROI calculator for the whole firmWhat the whole firm gets back, and when.
- AI process automationHow we build agents that run a process end to end.
Want to check this process properly?
Bring the process and the answers from this page. We will go through them with you, say which numbers to measure, and tell you plainly if an agent is not worth it.
We reply within 24 hours. Any paid discovery is scoped and agreed separately.