The Automation Truth
Everyone wants to automate. Few understand the economics.
Our Analysis
We studied 50 automation projects across 5 industries:
| Industry | Projects | Avg ROI |
|---|---|---|
| Financial Services | 15 | 412% |
| E-commerce | 12 | 356% |
| Healthcare | 10 | 298% |
| Manufacturing | 8 | 267% |
| Professional Services | 5 | 445% |
Key Findings
Average ROI: 347%in year one—but with massive variance.
- Top performers (Top 20%): 892% ROI
- Average performers (Middle 50%): 234% ROI
- Underperformers (Bottom 30%): -12% ROI
(yes, negative)
"Automation is not a silver bullet. It's a precision tool that requires precision application."
Why 30% Fail
- 1.Wrong Process Selection
(45% of failures)
- 2.Integration Hell
(30% of failures)
- 3.Change Management
(25% of failures)
Our Framework
We use the ARIA Score to evaluate automation candidates:
typescript
interface ARIAScore {
automatable: number; // Can it be done without human judgment?
repetitive: number; // Does it happen frequently?
impactful: number; // Does it move a key metric?
achievable: number; // Can we integrate with existing systems?
}
function evaluateProject(scores: ARIAScore): boolean {
const total = Object.values(scores).reduce((a, b) =a + b, 0);
return total >= 30; // Only pursue projects scoring 30+
}