ROI for AI

AI gives you hours back. Where you put them decides what you earn.

Hypothetical, illustrative example. Assumptions are shown in the revenue section.

Hours back100 hfreed each month
Useful activity40 hput into new proposals
Sales result5 clients wonfrom 20 extra proposals
Possible profit$15,000gross profit only if all 5 are served, before AI costs

Step 1 · Capacity

One person moves faster. A department frees more hours.

One person

40 h work week

Share of workweek freed25%
Hours freed per week10 h

Setup

Their own tools
Their own files
Quick to start

See the solo tool stack Claude Pro · one approved template

Example use case · draft one client proposal

FileApproved proposal template
AI draftClaude Pro
Human checkThe person reviews

File used · One approved proposal template, plus the current scope and pricing the person adds on purpose.
Access · The person uploads or pastes the approved template into their own Claude chat and chooses which files and information to supply for this proposal.
Check · They confirm price, scope and every claim before sending.
Final work · The approved proposal goes to the person's own client folder, and the person sends it.

Example software cost · U.S. monthly, before tax, checked Nov 4, 2026

Claude Pro = $20 per month · Claude pricing

Hypothetical internal effort · at an illustrative $75 per hour

One-time setup · 2 h × $75 = $150 once
Ongoing upkeep · 30 min per week × $75 = $37.50 per week to refresh the template and pricing

Illustration only, with no quote or forecast. Prices can change.

Department of 10

10 people × 40 h = 400 h a week

Share of workweek freed10%
Hours freed per week40 h

Setup

Shared data
Connected tools
Team training
Quality checks
More time and budget

See the team tool stack Claude Team · shared approved drive

Example use case · draft one client proposal

FileApproved shared drive
AI draftClaude Team
Human checkAssigned reviewer

File used · An approved shared drive folder with a named maintainer. Only authorized people update the template and pricing.
Access · The Team Owner enables the Google Workspace connector. Each member then connects their own account, and Claude follows that person's existing Drive permissions. Connector guide
Check · An assigned reviewer confirms price, scope, claims and the latest template before anyone sends.
Final work · The approved proposal is saved to the team's client folder on the shared drive, and a person sends it.

Example software cost · U.S. monthly, before tax, checked Nov 4, 2026

10 × $25 Team seats = $250 per month with Google Workspace already paid · Team plan

Buying 10 new Business Standard Flexible Plan seats adds 10 × $16.80 = $168, for $418 per month combined · Workspace Flexible Plan

Hypothetical internal effort · at an illustrative $75 per hour

One-time setup · 8 h × $75 = $600 once
Ongoing upkeep · 2 h per week × $75 = $150 per week

Illustration only, with no quote or forecast. Vendor prices and internal effort are listed separately and can change.

In this example, the individual may free a bigger share of their week. The department could free four times the hours.

Illustrative values.

Capacity is room to grow. Freed hours become valuable when the team applies them to useful work, with demand, skill, quality and delivery capacity in place.

Go deeper · optional

What changed? How to measure hours freed

Time one defined task from start to finished and approved, including review and corrections.
Log enough real examples, before and after, over the same kind of period.
Multiply the minutes saved by the number of comparable tasks completed.

Illustrative example · one weekly client report

Before90 min

After60 min

DraftReviewFixes

(90 − 60 min) × 20 reports a week = 600 min = 10 h released

Hours released are the starting point. They gain value once the team applies them to useful work.

Was the time used? Hours assigned and work completed

Write down which released hours were assigned, and to what work.
Count finished outputs: proposals, onboardings, reports, follow-ups.
Count only work that passed review. Time counts once it produces finished work.

Illustrative example · one week

10 h released6 h used

Assigned to proposalsStill available

6 h ÷ 1.5 h per proposal = 4 extra proposals · 6 ÷ 10 = 60% of released hours used

What limited the upside? Demand, delivery, quality, cost

Demand · In this illustration the team can finish 4 extra proposals. If 3 qualified requests are waiting, the team can send 3 of them.
Delivery · Confirm how many new jobs the team can actually start.
Quality · Track rework rate so faster work stays accepted work.
Cost · Subtract AI setup and running cost before calling anything a return.

Hours released
Output completed
Quality accepted
Demand served
Margin realized

Two published examples · different work, different measures

Writing tasks · In a controlled test on selected professional writing tasks, people using ChatGPT took 40% less time on average, and graders scored their work 18% higher. Noy and Zhang, Science, 2023

Customer support · At one software company's support team, AI suggestions helped agents solve 15% more customer problems in the same staff time on average, across 5,172 agents. Results varied by person. Brynjolfsson, Li and Raymond, QJE, 2025

These studies measured different things in different settings. Your own numbers come from your own task logs.

Step 2 · Leaders first

Equip the department head first

A lead with AI sees the team's work, coaches sooner and spreads what works. Pilot with the head of the department your assessment selects.

1. See activity

Proposals sent this week
- Rep A6
- Rep B5
- Rep C 4 stalled1
2. Coach and set priority

Rep C: follow up on the 4 stalled proposals today.

Whole team: use Rep A's follow-up template.
3. Same team measure after rollout

Team proposals sent per week
- Before12
- After18

Illustrative values. Team rollout goes smoother once the lead already works this way.

Step 3 · Revenue work

Point freed hours at work that earns

Sales

AI-assisted action: Drafts proposals and follow-ups
Activity measure: Proposals sent, follow-ups done
Business result: New clients and revenue booked

Delivery and service

AI-assisted action: Speeds onboarding and catches rework early
Activity measure: Days to onboard, rework rate
Business result: More work delivered and clients retained

Finance

AI-assisted action: Shows margin by service and staff hours per job
Activity measure: Margin per service, hours per job
Business result: Clearer pricing and staffing decisions

Tracked separately: payment speed, from invoice sent to cash received.

Worked example: Sales

5 reps, 50 proposals a month
4 h → 2 h per proposal
100 h freed
2 h per new proposal
25% close rate
$10,000 per client
30% gross margin

100 hfreed
40 hput into proposals
20extra proposals
5new clients
$50,000booked
$15,000gross profit if all 5 are served

$15,000 gross profitAI setup and running costsNet return

Hypothetical example. Confirm delivery capacity and quality before counting the profit.

Step 4 · Bottlenecks

Fix one area and the bottleneck moves

Before: Delivery unchanged

Sales wins5 clients
Delivery can start2
Waiting3

2 started, 3 waiting

After: Delivery equipped

Sales wins5 clients
Delivery can start5
Waiting0

5 started, 0 waiting

Before sending more work downstream: check delivery capacity, quality and real demand.

Billing, tracked separately: late invoices slow cash. Watch days to payment on their own.

Illustrative values.

Step 5 · Our assessment

How BH Technology assesses

Map where money is madeSales, delivery, service and finance
Read the dataTeam activity plus financials
Pick the first priorityWhat holds back revenue or margin
Equip the lead, then the teamStart with that department's head
Measure the resultOutput, quality, actual cost and margin
ReassessFind the next constraint

Back to step 1 with the next constraint

Find your first priority

We start with the activity that can change a business result.

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