§01 · payoff calculator
Will this AI tool actually pay back?
Five inputs. One honest answer. Adjust the sliders to see when the math turns positive.
Inputs
5people
Loaded hourly cost = the fully-burdened cost of one hour of an employee's time: base wage + payroll taxes + benefits + overhead. Rule of thumb: ~1.3× base salary.
Default $75/hr ≈ a mid-level US knowledge worker (~$120k loaded). Bump up for senior teams, down for junior or offshore.
Default $75/hr ≈ a mid-level US knowledge worker (~$120k loaded). Bump up for senior teams, down for junior or offshore.
$75/hr
4hrs
$20
70%
Payoff
Monthly net
$4,447
Dominant strategy: adopt.
Annual net
$53,358
ROI
4447%
Payback period
< 1 mo
Hours saved / mo
61 hrs
Value generated / mo
$4,547
Tool cost / mo
$100
Model: net = (seats × adoption × hours_saved × 4.33 × hourly) − (seats × cost)
Break-even chart
§02 · zero crossingMonthly net as a function of adoption rate, holding hours saved at 4 hrs/wk. Above the dashed line you profit; below it you lose money.
you (70% adoption · $4,447)
break-even at 1.5% adoption
Sensitivity analysis
§02 · stress-testMonthly net across a range of hours saved and adoption rates. Green = payoff, red = loss. The dashed line marks break-even — where monthly net equals zero.
| hrs saved / wk ↓ adoption → | 25% | 50% | 75% | 100% | break-even |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 hrs | $712 | $1,524 | $2,336 | $3,148 | 3% |
| 3 hrs | $1,118 | $2,336 | $3,553 | $4,771 | 2% |
| 4 hrs(current) | $1,524 | $3,148 | $4,771 | $6,395 | 2% |
| 5 hrs | $1,930 | $3,959 | $5,989 | $8,019 | 1% |
| 6 hrs | $2,336 | $4,771 | $7,207 | $9,643 | 1% |
| 7 hrs | $2,742 | $5,583 | $8,425 | $11,266 | 1% |
positive payoff
negative payoff
your current inputs
break-even (net = $0)
Holding seats (5), hourly cost ($75), and tool cost ($20/seat) constant. Break-even solves net = 0 for adoption % at each hours-saved row.