Cost model
One-time and recurring costs: licensing, consumption, build, integration, change and run.
AI Services
ROI Modeling and Business Case Development
A financial model and business case for an AI investment, with assumptions visible and sensitivity tested — projections, not promises.
What it is
A business case is only useful if a skeptical finance partner can take it apart and still agree with it. That means every benefit traces to an assumption, every assumption has a source, and the model shows what happens when the optimistic ones are wrong.
We build the cost side thoroughly — licensing, consumption, build effort, change management, ongoing run cost — because understated cost is what makes AI business cases fail in year two. Benefits are modeled as ranges, labeled as projections, and paired with the measurement plan that would later confirm or disprove them.
Who it is for
- Leaders preparing an AI investment request for a committee or board
- Organizations comparing build, buy and do-nothing options
- Teams whose previous AI business case was rejected on credibility grounds
- Finance partners who need the assumptions in an AI proposal made explicit
What is included
The deliverables below are the default scope. We adjust them to your situation during scoping and confirm the final list in writing.
Benefit projection
Modeled benefit in low, expected and high cases, each assumption sourced and labeled as a projection.
Sensitivity analysis
Which assumptions the case depends on most, and what breaks it.
Options comparison
Build, buy, extend an existing platform, or do nothing — compared on the same basis.
Risk register
What could prevent the benefit, with mitigations and owners.
Measurement plan
How you will know afterward whether the projection held.
Process and timeline
Indicative timings for a typical engagement of this type. Your scope, environment and availability of stakeholders will move them.
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Define the question
What decision this case supports and what the decision-makers need to see.
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Build the cost side
Vendor quotes where available, effort estimates, and run cost — no placeholders left in.
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Model benefits
Your own operational data, with assumptions documented line by line.
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Test and finalize
Sensitivity analysis, review with finance, then the final narrative and model.
Outcomes we aim for
These are the goals we design the engagement around. They are objectives, not guarantees, and the result depends on decisions and effort on your side as much as ours.
- A business case that survives finance review
- Explicit assumptions instead of an unexplained benefit number
- A documented comparison of the realistic options
- A measurement plan that makes post-launch validation possible
Questions
About roi modeling and business case development
Will you tell us the ROI we should expect?
We will model it with your numbers and label it a projection. We will not quote a benchmark return from other clients as if it applied to you, because it does not.
What if the model says the investment is not worth it?
Then it has done its job at a fraction of the cost of finding out later. That outcome happens, and we report it plainly.
Is roi modeling and business case development the right next step?
Tell us the symptom rather than the solution. If a different service fits better — or none of ours does — we will say so.