What does AI automation cost?
The language model is only one part of the price. Most of the work sits around it: the integrations with your systems, the checks on what can go wrong, and working out exactly how the work runs today.
A reply within one working day.
Short answer
What AI automation costs depends mostly on what has to be built around the language model: how many systems are connected, how messy the input is and how much review a mistake calls for. At Elusive Innovations, an AI and software company in Oss, Noord-Brabant, a Sprint starts at 999 euros: one defined result with a fixed scope, such as one task that disappears or one integration. For an MVP or an ongoing partnership it depends on scope, and what the manual work costs you a year now, you work out with our savings calculator.
- Company
- Elusive Innovations B.V.
- Office
- Romeinenweg 110-E, Oss
- Service area
- Oss and north-east Brabant, the rest of the Netherlands remotely
- First step
- Free business scan, then a defined Sprint
From our own work
- AI-telefonie90%of leads reached, was 60%, over hundreds of leads
- Taxira1-2 hrswrite-up per report, was 6-8, measured at six firms
- Trust Marketing1 fteof manual work per branch, taken over by automations
Every figure comes from that project's dossier or page and applies to that engagement. It is not a promise for every company.
What do you pay for in AI automation?
AI automation is software that carries out a task now done by hand: answering a call, reading a document or processing a request, and then taking the next step in your own systems. The language model is one part of that. Most of the work sits around it: the connection to your systems, the rules for what the software may and may not do, and the log in which you can see what happened.
So you mainly pay for decisions, not lines of code. Which exceptions live in your process, which system is right when two sources disagree, and what happens when the software is unsure? A quote that budgets no time for this moves that work to later. And not everything needs to be AI: what can be captured in fixed rules is cheaper and easier to test as a plain automation.
After delivery, maintenance depends on how much the software talks to other systems. Software hooked into four external systems has to change when those systems change. Agree on this up front, not afterwards.
When AI automation pays for itself, and when it does not
Makes sense when
- A task comes back every day or every week and now costs someone hours, such as answering the phone, processing requests or writing up reports.
- You can point at the step that disappears if it works.
- The input is messy: spoken text, free-form email or documents in varying shapes. That is where AI has the edge over fixed rules.
- There is a system where the result lands, such as a calendar, CRM or administration.
Does not make sense when
- The task comes up a few times a year. Then building it costs more than the manual work.
- The task can be captured in rules that always hold. Then a plain automation is cheaper and gives the same answer tomorrow.
- The package you already have can do it. Check what is in your current software first.
- The goal is 'something with AI', without a process that asks for it.
First work out what the manual work costs now
Whether AI automation pays for itself starts at the other side of the sum: what does the work that would disappear cost? You work that out as number of people × hours a week × working weeks a year × cost per hour. The savings calculator does that sum with your own numbers. It shows what the manual work costs now, not what you save: which part can be automated is what the free business scan shows.
- Count the errors you currently repair too, and the work left waiting because information arrives late.
- Put the outcome next to the shape that fits your question: a Sprint with a fixed price, or a larger engagement.
- Sometimes it shows an existing package is plenty. That answer is just as valuable.
Kinds of engagements, from small to large
- Our own product
One task that disappears
AI telephony answers calls or places them, then carries out the action in your systems: appointment booked, CRM updated. An agent for one defined task, with one integration, can be a Sprint.
View: One task that disappears - Client project · LeidingDeal.nl
One integration between two systems
An integration keeps stock in Shopify in line with the supplier's file twice a day, with an alert on errors. There is no AI in it, and there need not be: fixed rules are cheaper and more predictable here.
View: One integration between two systems - Client project · Trust Marketing
Automations across several branches
Standings, lead follow-up and recruitment from one layer of automations, with reports per branch that write themselves. Several processes at once fit an MVP or an ongoing partnership better.
View: Automations across several branches - Client project · De Molen Banden
A system across eight departments
Every order followed live across eight production departments, from forge to transport, connected to the existing ERP. A complete application with screens, database and integrations is the kind of engagement that starts as an MVP.
View: A system across eight departments
What determines the investment?
The smallest shape is a Sprint: one AI task or one integration, with scope and price fixed up front. Several tasks, or software that reads and writes across many systems, is more likely an MVP or an ongoing partnership.
- Fixed scope
Sprint
One defined deliverable: an integration between two systems, a recurring step that disappears, or an internal screen that does not exist yet. Scope and price are fixed upfront.
- Production-ready
MVP
A first version of your product or platform that real users can use. How long it takes depends on the scope, usually a few weeks.
- Ongoing
Partnership
Fixed build capacity per period, for organisations that keep extending. New parts, integrations and automations delivered to a steady rhythm.
A Sprint starts at 999 euro. For an MVP or a Partnership it depends on scope; we share that figure during the intake.
What moves the price most
- The number of systems the software has to read from or write to. Two integrations is not twice the work of one.
- How messy the input is: a fixed form is different from free speech or documents in varying shapes.
- How bad a mistake is, and so how much review and logging is needed.
- Whether the knowledge the software draws on is already recorded somewhere, and whether someone can write down how the work runs today.
Explained in more depth in What does custom software cost?
How we approach it
Work out the manual work
The savings calculator shows what the task costs a year now, with your own numbers.
Pick one task
We start with one task that comes back often and where you can point at the step that disappears. After a half-hour introduction you know which shape your question falls into: Sprint, MVP or partnership.
Scope and price fixed up front
If it fits a Sprint, scope and price are fixed before anything is built.
Build with review, then decide
The software first runs alongside the existing process, with a person approving the outcome. Then you decide, based on what you see, whether there is a next step.
Frequently asked questions
What does AI automation cost at Elusive Innovations?
A Sprint starts at 999 euros: one defined result with a fixed scope. Above that it depends on what needs to be built, and we work with an MVP through to production or an ongoing partnership. After the introduction you know which shape your question falls into.
Can you give a ballpark without a conversation?
Not honestly, no. What we can do is spend half an hour on your question and tell you which shape it falls into: Sprint, MVP or partnership. That gives you the order of magnitude before you commit to anything.
How do I know whether AI automation pays for itself?
Start with what the work costs now. The savings calculator works that out with your own numbers: people, hours a week, working weeks and cost per hour. Which part of it can be automated is what the free business scan shows. We do not promise a savings percentage up front.
Isn't plain automation cheaper than AI?
Often, yes. If a task can be captured in rules that always hold, a plain automation is cheaper, testable and gives the same answer tomorrow. We use AI where the input is messy, such as conversations, free-form email and documents. More on that in When AI genuinely adds value.
What does it cost after delivery?
That depends on how much the software talks to the outside world. Software that stands on its own needs little. Software hooked into four external systems has to change when those systems change. Agree on this up front, not afterwards.
Who does AI automation for companies in Oss and nearby?
Elusive Innovations, an AI and software company on the Romeinenweg in Oss, builds AI automation for mid-sized companies in Oss and north-east Brabant, including 's-Hertogenbosch, Uden, Veghel and Nijmegen, and the rest of the Netherlands remotely.
Read next
- ServicesAI SolutionsSoftware that reads a call, a document or a request and carries out the next step inside your own systems.
- ServicesBusiness AutomationLet your systems exchange information, from enquiry to invoice, without separate exports or double entry.
- InsightsWhen AI genuinely adds value (and when it is hype)A practical lens for deciding where AI belongs in your process, and where a plain rule does the job better.
- InsightsWhere to start automatingHow to find the one process worth automating first, and why the biggest annoyance is usually the wrong starting point.
The next step
Tell us where work gets stuck.
Bring an example from your everyday work. Together we explore what is needed and whether we are the right team to help. Prefer it on paper first? Request the free business scan.