Contact Us

WORKSHEET · OCFO

AI ROI Spreadsheet

A worksheet for translating AI use cases into time savings, quality improvement, revenue response, cost avoidance, and payback assumptions.

Run this resource with us All resources

MASTHEAD

Who this resource is for, and when to use it.

The audience is the seat at the table. The trigger is the moment to open the resource. The primary service is where the operating mandate lives.

USE THIS FOR
Owners, COOs, CFOs, functional leaders, and operators deciding whether an AI workflow is worth building.
TRIGGER
Use this after a workflow has been named and before approving an AI audit, blueprint, implementation sprint, or vendor purchase.
FIRST PUBLISHED
2026-05-06
PRIMARY SERVICE
Office of the CFO

THE CHECKLIST

What to inspect before the next operating call.

Each checklist line ties an operating risk to a question the team can answer in diligence.

Value inputs

Start with the operating behavior the workflow should improve.

  • Manual time People involved, hours per person per week, loaded hourly cost, and rework.
  • Cycle time Current turnaround time, target turnaround time, and business impact of delay.
  • Quality Error rate, review burden, escalations, customer impact, and exception cost.

Investment inputs

Do not compare tool price against value without implementation cost.

  • Build cost Audit, blueprint, implementation, integration, testing, training, and rollout.
  • Tool cost Licenses, usage, storage, model spend, monitoring, and support.
  • Internal time Process-owner interviews, testing, training, change management, and ongoing review.

Decision outputs

The output should decide what to build, defer, or stop.

  • First-year net value Gross annual value minus implementation, tool, and support cost.
  • Payback Months required for monthly net value to recover implementation cost.
  • Confidence A confidence rating based on data quality, owner availability, and adoption readiness.

OPERATING SEQUENCE

Turn the resource into operating work.

Each step is the input the next step needs. The board, the sponsor, or the management team can run the sequence end-to-end.

  1. 01

    Define the workflow

    Use one workflow, not an entire department, as the unit of analysis.

  2. 02

    Baseline current effort

    Estimate current hours, cycle time, error rate, rework, and owner burden.

  3. 03

    Estimate improvement conservatively

    Use a conservative percentage improvement and document why it is realistic.

  4. 04

    Add full investment cost

    Include implementation, tools, support, training, and internal owner time.

  5. 05

    Decide next action

    Build, audit, blueprint, defer, or reject based on payback, confidence, and risk.

SERVICE PATH

Where this work sits in the engagement model.

View all services

OCFO · SERVICE

Office of the CFO

ARR waterfalls, board reporting, FP&A, unit economics, forecast accuracy, and finance infrastructure for technology companies scaling or preparing for exit.

PI · SERVICE

Performance Improvement

Revenue, margin, delivery, technical debt, and operating-system improvement for technology firms with stalled growth or compressed EBITDA.

DECISION GUIDES

When this resource is the right opening move.

RELATED TOOLS

Tools that produce the resource's inputs.

COMMON QUESTIONS

Operator-grade answers.

The questions that come up before, during, and after running the resource.

  • What ROI should justify an AI workflow?

    A strong workflow usually has clear payback, visible owner commitment, manageable risk, and a metric that can be reviewed after launch.

  • What should not be counted as ROI?

    Do not count vague productivity optimism. Count time, cycle time, quality, revenue response, cost avoidance, and measurable capacity.

  • Why include internal time?

    AI workflows need process owners, testing, training, review, and adoption. Ignoring internal time makes payback look better than it is.

Want this translated into an operating mandate?

Human Renaissance turns the checklist into decision rights, owners, inspection cadence, and a board-ready scorecard.

Request a Turnaround Assessment