"What's the ROI?" — the question every automation initiative faces. Most teams answer with vague promises of "efficiency gains." We answer with numbers.
Why Most ROI Calculations Fail
The typical ROI analysis compares the cost of the automation tool against the salary of the employee it replaces. This approach is fundamentally flawed for three reasons:
- It ignores the cost of errors in manual processes.
- It undervalues the opportunity cost of human talent doing repetitive work.
- It misses the compounding effect of process improvement over time.
"If you can measure it, you can automate it. If you can automate it, you can measure the return."
The Four Dimensions of ROI
Our framework measures automation ROI across four dimensions, capturing both direct savings and indirect value creation:
1. Labour Cost Reduction
The most visible metric. Calculate the fully-loaded cost (salary + benefits + overhead) of the hours freed by automation. Across our client base, we see an average of 40% labour hour reduction in automated processes within the first 90 days.
2. Error Cost Elimination
Manual processes have error rates between 1-5%. Each error carries a resolution cost: investigation time, corrective actions, customer communication, and sometimes regulatory penalties. Our clients report 94% reduction in process errors post-automation.
3. Speed-to-Outcome Improvement
Faster processing means faster revenue recognition, faster customer response, and faster decision-making. A purchase order approved in 2 minutes instead of 2 days has calculable financial impact on working capital.
4. Strategic Capacity Liberation
When knowledge workers stop processing invoices and start analysing market trends, the organisation gains capacity for higher-value work. This is the hardest to quantify but often the largest component of true ROI.
The 312% Average
Across 47 enterprise deployments in 2025, Vistro clients achieved an average first-year ROI of 312%. The range was 180% to 520%, with higher returns correlating to larger process volumes and more complex decision logic.
The key insight: ROI accelerates over time. Year one captures the obvious efficiency gains. Year two benefits from process optimisation feedback loops. Year three is where compounding truly kicks in, as automated processes generate data that enables further automation.
How to Start Measuring
Begin with a baseline measurement of your current process:
- Hours per week: How many hours does this process consume?
- Error rate: What is the current error rate?
- Processing time: What is the average time per unit of work?
- Creative ratio: What percentage of the work is genuinely creative vs. routine?
These four numbers, combined with your fully-loaded labor costs, give you everything you need to build a credible ROI projection.
Conclusion
The companies that win aren't the ones with the most automation — they're the ones that know exactly what each automation delivers. Stop guessing. Start measuring. The data will make the case for you.