Will this automation pay for itself? Use payback period

<p>Payback period is how many months of savings it takes to cover the cost of building the agent. It is a rough sort, not a full business case.</p><h2>Worked example</h2><p>An agent triages inbound requests.</p><ol><li>Monthly savings = minutes saved per task × tasks per month × loaded hourly rate ÷ 60.</li><li>Subtract monthly cost: model usage, hosting, and upkeep time.</li><li>Add the one-time build cost.</li><li>Payback months = build cost ÷ (monthly savings − monthly cost).</li><li>Ship the ones that pay back inside six to nine months before the fuzzy experiments.</li></ol><p>Example: a $6,000 build that saves $1,500 a month and costs $300 a month to run pays back in 6,000 / 1,200 = 5 months.</p><h2>Common mistakes</h2><ul><li>Leaving out the monthly upkeep.</li><li>Assuming full use on day one.</li><li>Ignoring the cost of fixing bad outputs.</li><li>Mixing new revenue with time saved and calling it one number.</li><li>Using the best week instead of a normal month.</li></ul><h2>Try it</h2><p>Open the <a href="https://gowithagentic.ai/tools/payback-period">payback period</a> calculator.</p>