---
title: "AI ROI Calculator"
description: "Estimate the payback on a direct-LLM agent project before committing budget. Five inputs, live output, methodology footnoted."
source: "https://www.kensink.com/resources/ai-roi-calculator/"
canonical: "https://www.kensink.com/resources/ai-roi-calculator/"
---
INTERACTIVE TOOL · 05 INPUTS

# AI ROI  
calculator.

Sliders, not spreadsheets. Five inputs and you have an annual savings number, a payback period, and a 3-year ROI in front of you. Adjust assumptions, watch the numbers move, and only commit budget when the math is honest.

## Your inputs

Tasks per week (across team) 

Tickets, claims, RFPs, queries, whatever unit your team processes.

Loaded hourly cost (USD) 

Salary + benefits + tools + overhead, divided by hours worked.

Minutes per task (today, with a human) 

Average time-on-task including context switching.

Expected deflection rate (%) 

What share of tasks can the agent reasonably handle without a human?

All-in build cost (USD) 

Year-one delivery + your team's time + model spend.

## Live estimate

Annual savings $1.22M

Payback period 1.8 mo

3-year ROI 1938%

Hours saved / wk 280 hrs

Estimates assume the deflection rate is sustained at the value you chose. Most engagements land within ±20% of the chosen rate after a 90-day post-mortem. Read the methodology in our [LLM ROI piece](https://www.kensink.com/blog/llm-roi).

METHODOLOGY · LIVE

## How the math works.

**Annual savings** = tasks/week × minutes/task × deflection × $/hr × 52. **Payback period** = build cost ÷ monthly savings. **3-year ROI** = (3 × annual savings − build cost) ÷ build cost. The model assumes deflection is sustained at the chosen rate; the longer blog post on [calculating LLM ROI](https://www.kensink.com/blog/llm-roi) covers the sensitivity-check pattern we use on every engagement.

◆ CAVEAT

All-in build cost is the harder number to estimate. Don't under-count your team's time, model spend in year one, or the eval-suite ongoing cost. If unsure, talk to us. We'll pressure-test the number for free.