What could AI
give back?
Four inputs and a rough figure for the time and money AI could hand back each month, worked out from the repetitive admin your team carries today. Nothing to sign up for and nothing stored.
- Runs in your browser; nothing is sent to us
- Two free conversations before any paid stage
- Every stage priced in writing before it begins
Size the return before you size the build
Put in what you know about the repetitive work in your business. The ROI calculator turns it into hours and money returned each month, so a first conversation starts from your numbers rather than ours.
Your numbers
Rough is fine — adjust until it feels right.
a year, at the hourly cost you entered
Modelled value once the hours are redeployed: $0 a year. That is labour cost × 3, an assumption explained below.
An estimate, not a promise
A handful of multiplications and one working-day assumption, all of them visible. The model takes the people you named, the weekly hours each spends on automatable admin and the proportion an agent could realistically absorb, then prices that time at what it costs you. That labour cost is the headline; the multiplied figure beneath it is an assumption and is labelled as one. Treat the output as a starting point for a free intro call. Discovery is where it gets tested against your actual processes and replaced with numbers you can defend to a board.
How the five stages work- Reclaimed hours per month = people × weekly hours × AI share × 4.33 weeks
- Use a fully-loaded hourly figure (salary with overhead, tools and leave on top) instead of base wage; anything less understates what the hours cost you
- Labour cost reclaimed, the headline, = reclaimed hours × that figure, then × 12 for the year
- Modelled value, the second line, = labour cost × 3. The ×3 is a modelling assumption rather than a measurement: it stands in for the higher-value work the hours move to, the rework that stops happening and the capacity an automated workflow adds outside business hours. Use the headline if you want the conservative case
- "Working days back" assumes a 7.5-hour day, and the days-a-week figure divides that by the same 4.33
Estimate the build side too
A return only means something next to a cost. The AI project cost calculator takes the shape of the system you have in mind (project type, integrations, data, scale, security tier and support) and returns indicative AUD ranges for the implementation, the monthly model and API usage, and the infrastructure that keeps it running.
Put that range beside the figure above and you have a first view of payback before anyone has written a proposal. Our AI planning tools and calculators page lists both and links to the proposal form if you would rather the team sized it for you.
Before you compare the two
- The cost calculator works in AUD. If you chose $ above and entered Australian-dollar costs, the two figures line up; in £ or € convert one side first
- This page returns a labour-cost headline and a modelled value; the cost calculator returns a range on purpose. Test payback with the headline against the top of the range, not the modelled value against the bottom
- Both are built on modelling assumptions. Discovery replaces them with your actual processes and a scope priced in writing
- Implementation is delivered in 12-week blocks, with working software landing every couple of weeks, so the first workflow can be live and measured while later ones are still being scoped
- ReturnThis page. Hours and money back each month, from four inputs you already know.
- CostThe cost calculator. Implementation, usage and running costs as AUD ranges.
- PaybackYearly return against the build range: a rough number of months to bring to a free intro call.
- DiscoveryTwo to four weeks from a fixed fee. Both estimates tested against real processes, ending in a use-case map ranked by impact, effort and risk.
Where the reclaimed hours usually come from
Most of the value in an estimate like this comes from a handful of workflows. These are the services that find them, automate them and keep a person in the loop.
AI consulting
Turn a rough estimate into a prioritised use-case map with impact, effort and risk scored for each item.
AI consulting in AustraliaAI automation
Repetitive admin moved into agentic workflows that run inside your existing systems, with an approval step wherever the stakes warrant one.
Agentic workflow automationAI agent development
Custom agents that read, decide and act inside the systems your team already uses.
Custom AI agentsQuestions people ask about the estimate
The short answers are here. The longer ones belong in the free intro call, with your figures on the table.
Book a free intro callWhere do the numbers I enter go?
Nowhere. The calculation runs in your browser and none of the values are stored or sent to ComplxAI. Our analytics record that the calculator was used on this page, not what you typed into it.
Why is there a second figure three times the labour cost?
Because reclaimed hours rarely sit idle. The multiplier stands in for the work those hours move to, the rework that stops happening and the capacity an automated workflow adds outside business hours. It is a modelling assumption rather than a measurement, which is why the headline shows labour cost alone and the multiplied figure sits beneath it, labelled as an assumption. The conservative case is the headline; use whichever your board will accept.
Which currency should I use?
Whichever you pay salaries in; the symbol only changes the label on the result. If you plan to compare the result with the AI project cost calculator, which works in AUD, choose $ and enter Australian-dollar costs so the two figures are like for like.
What happens once I have a number?
Bring it to the free 30-minute intro call, where we sanity-check the inputs and say whether the workflows behind them are realistic to automate. A free one-hour pre-discovery follows if it is worth going further. Discovery, two to four weeks from a fixed fee, turns the estimate into a ranked use-case map and a scope you can approve or walk away from. The IP is yours from the first paid stage.
Bring the estimate to a free intro call
We check the inputs and say where to start.