Automation capacity planner.

The default scenario starts with 500 tasks per month at eight staff minutes each: about 66.7 hours. It assumes 60% of tasks can be automated, leaving 200 tasks manual. The 300 eligible tasks still need one staff minute each, with 20% needing an additional three-minute review. Maintenance adds two hours per month.

Use the automation ROI calculator to model the share of capacity that might become avoidable cash cost. If the workflow needs an application build, compare the separate assumptions in the software scope estimator.

That gives about 36.7 staff hours after the change and 30 hours of potential released capacity. At a scenario cost of USD 25 per hour, the equivalent capacity value is USD 750 per month. Deducting USD 150 in monthly operating costs leaves USD 600. A USD 3,000 setup cost would therefore take five months to recover in this simplified model.

This example does not account for every financial or operational factor. It excludes revenue effects, taxes, financing, discounting, transition disruption and changes in task volume. Replace the assumptions with pilot measurements and separately evaluate customer experience, error rates and service quality.

Current hours = monthly task volume × current staff minutes ÷ 60. Eligible tasks = monthly task volume × eligible percentage ÷ 100.

The AI and software workflow guide keeps permissions and calculations outside model output. Check the integration checklist for retries and reconciliation work that can otherwise disappear from the workload estimate.

Modeled hours = the current time for tasks that remain manual + residual staff handling for eligible tasks + additional human review for eligible tasks + monthly maintenance and exception hours.

Released hours = current hours − modeled hours. Capacity value = released hours × staff cost per hour. Net monthly value = capacity value − monthly operating costs. Simple payback = one-time setup cost ÷ net monthly value, where net value is positive. The model does not assume automatic annual growth or improved accuracy.

Choose a workflow with a clear start, finish and owner. Measure the current task volume and staff time before changing it. Define which cases are eligible, the evidence needed for acceptance and when a person must take over. Keep a route for exceptions and a way to reconcile records.

Plan exceptions with the resilient systems guide and compare product options with the custom software versus SaaS guide. For lead-routing workflows, follow the funnel measurement guide instead of treating faster handling as a guaranteed sale. Discuss AI automation and custom software development against the same operating baseline.

Run a limited pilot and compare actual handling time, review burden, operating cost and output quality with the scenario. An invoice workflow, support assistant and lead-routing process will have different error costs and review requirements. Update the inputs using the observed results before deciding whether to expand.