How we compute, and what we deliberately don't claim.
This page explains how the ROI Calculator works, what assumptions it makes, and which sources it uses. We believe transparency builds more trust than any pseudo-precision.
Every value carries a confidence level.
Four levels behind every range. Take them seriously when you reuse the result.
- HIGH
- Peer-reviewed study, Tier-1 consultancy report, or official source (EU Commission, ECB, NIST). — Citable in a board meeting.
- MEDIUM
- Multiple consistent secondary sources — industry associations, Tier-1 industry media, vendor cases with transparent methodology. — Plausible, not peer-reviewed.
- LOW
- Sparse sources, often vendor-biased, or range wider than we'd like. — Interpret with caution.
- TDA ESTIMATE
- Our own estimate based on logic and available data points, where no third-party source exists. — Reasoning made transparent each time.
How the calculator computes NPV.
Per tech class we compute the annual benefit from cost savings and revenue uplift, subtract implementation cost, and discount at the industry WACC.
Default WACC: 8%. Typical adoption curve: Y1 = 30% · Y2 = 70% · Y3 = 100%. Both adjustable per industry and by the user.
Three scenarios run in parallel: Status Quo (no investment, full COI), Selective Adoption (top-1/2 tech classes) and Aggressive Adoption (full adoption curve on top-3). The difference Aggressive minus Status Quo is the headline NPV.
Three hard boundaries.
- No point estimates. Every value is a range (low / expected / high). Anyone telling you to the cent what AI will deliver is lying.
- No vendor pitch. We are not bound to Microsoft, OpenAI, SAP, or any tool vendor. In vendor-driven industries we prefer McKinsey, BCG, BIS, EHI, and peer-reviewed sources.
- No pseudo-personalisation. If your industry has thin data on our side, we say so — and offer the Pro Report, where we work through your profile individually.
Which industry gets which special mechanic?
We launch with eight cluster profiles, each with two or three sub-profiles. Some clusters have cluster-specific special mechanics that others don't — e.g. the billing multiplier in Legal & Tax or the tier modifier in Financial Services.
| Cluster | Sub-profiles | Special mechanic |
|---|---|---|
| Professional Services | Strategy · Marketing · IT-Consult. | — |
| Legal & Tax | Law · Tax · Audit | Billing multiplier |
| Financial Services | Banking · Asset Mgmt · Insurance | Tier modifier · Compliance module |
| Manufacturing | Discrete · Process · Heavy | AI split (operational + GenAI) · Machinery flag |
| Retail & E-Commerce | Brick & Mortar · E-Commerce · Omni | DACH modifier · Robotics size threshold |
| Media & Creative | Publishing · Production · Studios | License compliance block · Billing multiplier |
| Healthcare & Life Sciences | Hospitals · Pharma · MedTech | R&D NPV block (pharma) · As-of banner |
| Logistics & Transport | Freight · 3PL · Last-mile | TradeLens caveat · expanded quantum block |
What anchors our numbers.
Each cluster has its own source list with Q-NN IDs, URLs, and extracts. We update them every six months, or sooner when a regulator (EU Commission, ECB, NIST) publishes a relevant update.
v1.0: 69 citable sources, ~45 of them HIGH confidence from peer-reviewed studies, Tier-1 consultancy reports, or official regulator sources.
Disclaimer
This calculator is a decision-support tool, not investment or tax advice. Concrete investment decisions should be backed by individual analysis — that's what our Pro Report is for.
EU AI Act and sector-specific compliance notes are general information, not legal advice. Concrete compliance assessments for your company require qualified counsel or a compliance officer.