Calculating the Return on Investment (ROI) before automating is not a corporate formality — it’s a reality check. It ensures test automation saves time, optimises costs, and strengthens customer trust instead of becoming a costly routine of maintaining fragile scripts.
To explore this topic further, we had a conversation with Ostap Elyashevskyy, our Test Automation Competence Manager, to learn how software development teams can evaluate ROI before starting test automation and identify its potential benefits.
Why should teams prioritise ROI calculation before starting automation?
Automation promises speed and consistency — machines can run thousands of checks while humans sleep. But without a clear understanding of cost versus benefit, these promises can backfire. Scripts that are fragile, hard to maintain, or aimed at unimportant areas often consume more resources than they save.
For example, automating a feature that changes frequently can lead to endless fixing of tests instead of testing the product. Engineers spend hours maintaining "smart" scripts that constantly break — time that could have been used to explore new risks, improve coverage, or collaborate with developers. This kind of "automation for the sake of automation" not only drains the budget but also demotivates people, especially when they realise their effort produces no real impact on quality, or delivery speed.
Can AI assist teams in ROI modelling?
Sure. In my own experience, I managed to generate a working ROI calculator with the help of artificial intelligence in about six iterations of prompting. Of course, it required some human polishing—but it saved hours of manual work and gave a solid foundation for decision-making.
What's the best approach to building an AI-assisted ROI calculator?
There are hundreds of ROI calculators available online—and most of them do a decent job. But one thing often overlooked is that ROI models should be customised to the context of each project. Every organisation has different testing strategies, team rates, and automation goals. The structure of an ROI calculator can stay consistent, but the parameters and logic must adapt to your specific needs.
If you're building an initial version of your ROI calculator with AI, begin with a simple meta-prompt, such as: “Provide some prompts which can help build an ROI calculator for test automation.” This approach lets AI generate the first layer of ideas—basic cost and benefit variables—that you can then refine based on your project.
Or you can go a step further and use a more detailed, structured prompt, for example:
"Generate an Excel ROI calculator template for test automation with the following columns:
- Input section: Test cases, execution frequency, manual execution time, automation creation time, maintenance per sprint, and hourly rate.
- Output section: Manual testing cost per release, automation cost per release, cumulative savings, ROI percentage, and break-even month. Include built-in Excel formulas so the user can change inputs and instantly see recalculated ROI. Format it cleanly with labelled sections."
This second approach usually gives a strong starting point—a draft Excel model that you can polish manually to reflect your real data and assumptions.
The key idea is simple: AI can build the foundation, while you provide the expertise and context. That's how you turn a generic calculator into a meaningful decision-making tool.
Summary
ROI is more than a financial measure—it’s a compass for automation strategy. It keeps teams aligned with business goals and prevents wasting months on automation that doesn’t deliver real value.
And now, AI amplifies that discipline. It can draft ROI models, process test data, estimate savings, and even visualise payback timelines. The human still decides what makes sense—but AI dramatically speeds up analysis, iteration, and validation.
In short, AI helps you move from gut feeling to data-backed automation planning. The result? Smarter investment, happier customers, and QA teams that build automation which truly pays off—not just looks impressive.
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