Cost Calculation: What Does AI Automation Really Cost?

The question about costs is legitimate and important. Here you will find a transparent breakdown of what AI automation actually costs for Swiss SMEs - without hidden surprises.

Initial Costs: What Does It Cost to Start?

• Consulting and process analysis: CHF 3,000-8,000
• Data preparation and cleansing: CHF 5,000-15,000
• Development and configuration: CHF 10,000-25,000
• Testing and integration: CHF 3,000-8,000
• Training and go-live: CHF 2,000-5,000

Total pilot project cost: CHF 15,000-40,000 depending on complexity. Simple automations (email triage, document classification) are at the lower end, complex solutions (AI agent with system integration) at the upper end.

Ongoing Costs

• Cloud hosting (Swiss Hosted): CHF 200-800 per month
• API costs (LLM usage): CHF 100-500 per month depending on volume
• Maintenance and updates: CHF 200-500 per month
• Support: CHF 0-500 per month (depending on SLA)

Total ongoing costs: CHF 500-2,000 per month. These decrease relatively as more processes run on the same infrastructure.

Avoiding Hidden Cost Traps

• Scope creep: Keep the project scope tightly defined
• Data quality: Plan sufficient budget for data cleansing
• Vendor lock-in: Look for open standards and data portability

Conclusion

AI automation is a manageable investment with measurable returns. Most projects pay for themselves in 3-6 months. Use our ROI calculator for an individual calculation.