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AI ROI calculator.

Work out the return, net value and payback of an AI workload from your own costs and benefits, with the method finance will expect.

Novamind Labs

Topic
AI ROI
Product
Novie Control
Format
Guide
Reading time
2 min
Published
5 November 2026
In short

This calculator works out the return on one AI workload from your own numbers. Enter what it costs, in licences, model usage, build and the people who run it, and what it returns, in hours and other value. It gives year-one ROI, net annual value and the payback period. Every default is an illustration to overwrite.

Calculator

AI ROI calculator.

Year-one ROI.
2%
Net value per year after year one.
$85,000
Payback on the build.
11 months

Illustrative. Every default is an example to overwrite with your own figures. Value from hours is hours per week, times working weeks, times the loaded hourly cost, times the share put to other use. Year-one cost includes the build; the yearly net value after it does not.

How the calculator works.

  • Annual value is hours returned each week, times the working weeks in a year, times the loaded hourly cost, times the share of those hours put to other use. Other annual value, such as cost avoided, is added to it.
  • Year-one cost is the one-off build plus a year of licences, model usage and running costs.
  • ROI is year-one value minus year-one cost, divided by year-one cost. Net annual value after year one leaves the build out.
  • Payback is the one-off build divided by the monthly value left after running costs.

TakeawayThe calculator follows finance's formula: net value over total cost, with payback measured against the one-off build.

Choosing the inputs.

Read model usage from the provider bills for the workload, or estimate it per task with our agent cost calculator. Use the loaded hourly cost finance uses for headcount planning. The share of hours put to use is the input to agree with finance first: time saved by individuals only becomes value when it is redeployed.

What an AI agent costs to runThe AI productivity paradox

TakeawayAgree the share of hours put to use with finance, because it moves the answer more than any other input.

Reading the result.

Deloitte found most organisations expect an AI use case to pay back in two to four years. A payback under a year is uncommon, and worth checking for missing costs. A negative year-one ROI with a positive net annual value is normal for a workload with a large build, and the payback period tells you when it turns.

How long does AI take to pay back?How to measure AI ROI

TakeawayA negative first year with a positive running return is normal, and the payback period shows when it turns.

How Novie Control does it

You can see what AI costs to build.Can you see what it costs to run?

See how Novie Control helps.

Sources

  1. Deloitte, AI ROI: The paradox of rising investment and elusive returns (22 October 2025)

Other articles

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Frequently asked questions

How do you calculate the ROI of an AI project?

Subtract the year's total cost, including the one-off build, from the value delivered in the same year, and divide by the total cost. Value from hours is hours returned times the loaded hourly cost times the share put to other use.

What is a good ROI for AI?

There is no single benchmark. Most organisations expect a typical AI use case to pay back in two to four years, so a workload that earns back its build within that window and runs at a positive net value is in line with the research.

What inputs does an AI ROI calculator need?

Licences, model usage, one-off build and annual running costs on one side; hours returned each week, the loaded hourly cost, the share of hours put to use and any other annual value on the other.

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