Count only the work the AI will handle. Take last month's volume from your ticketing or accounting system and multiply by 12. If the work is seasonal, use last year's total.

Take the hours the team spends on this work in a month. Multiply by 60 and divide by the units handled that month. Or time ten cases and use the average.

Use the full cost of the person, not the salary alone. Add employer taxes and benefits to the yearly salary. Divide by the hours they work in a year.

Start from the vendor quote. Add integration, configuration and your own team's time on the project. If you have no quote yet, enter the budget you asked for.

Add subscription or usage fees, hosting, and the time someone spends maintaining it. If the price is per unit, multiply it by your units per year.