# Realisation: When Freed Time Becomes Money — Estimating AI Automation ROI

Source: https://www.skillbyai.com/en/ai-automation-roi/e-realise

> Hours freed are not cash saved.

## Attrition, redeployment, growth

Freed hours become financial value only if something changes: fewer hires as volume grows, roles not backfilled after attrition, overtime or contractors cut, or time redeployed to work with measurable value. If nothing changes, the hours are absorbed and savings stay on paper. State a **realisation rate** (the share of freed time that turns into money) and the mechanism, and agree it with the budget owner.

## Hours freed versus hours that turn into money, run

I ran this with plain Python 3. All figures belong to one worked example (an invoice-processing team) with invented but internally consistent numbers; prices are placeholders. The automation frees 762 of 1,280 team hours a month. Not backfilling two roles realises 320 hours; redeploying time to backlog work at an assumed 60% value realises about 457; no change in staffing or work realises none.

```python
hours_freed = 762            # per month, from the savings estimate
team_hours = 8 * 160         # 8 people x 160 hours
share = hours_freed / team_hours
print(f"hours freed: {hours_freed} of {team_hours} team hours ({share:.0%})")
scenarios = {
    "headcount reduced by attrition (2 roles)": 2 * 160,
    "time redeployed to backlog (value estimated)": 0.6 * hours_freed,
    "no change in staffing or work": 0,
}
for name, realised in scenarios.items():
    print(f"{name:<46} hours that turn into money {realised:>5.0f}")
```

Output:

```
hours freed: 762 of 1280 team hours (60%)
headcount reduced by attrition (2 roles)       hours that turn into money   320
time redeployed to backlog (value estimated)   hours that turn into money   457
no change in staffing or work                  hours that turn into money     0
```

## Name the mechanism

Write down exactly how the freed time will create value (no backfill, reduced overtime, new work) and who agreed.

**Quiz:** What is a realisation rate?

- [ ] The discount rate
- [ ] The model's accuracy
- [x] The share of freed time that actually turns into financial value
- [ ] The adoption speed

*Answer:* The share of freed time that actually turns into financial value. Paper savings are not cash.