What an AI agent really costs

1. Setup, one-off

• Analysis of the workflow: what exactly should the agent take over, and what stays with people?
• Connection to your systems, such as ERP, CRM, email, document storage or telephony.
• Defining rules, permissions and approvals.
• Tests with real cases from your day-to-day business.
• Training the team that works with the agent.

2. Operation, ongoing

• AI usage: usually billed by consumption; it depends on volume and the model chosen.
• Licences: for example for telephony, automation platforms or specialist software.
• Infrastructure: hosting, databases, backups.
• Support: monitoring, error analysis, adjustments and switching to new models. New models appear at short intervals; an agent without maintenance becomes outdated.

3. Internal time

Your specialists explain workflows, check results and give approvals, especially in the first weeks. This time belongs in any honest calculation.

Common mistakes

• Counting only the licence and forgetting setup, operation and internal time.
• Planning without ongoing support.
• Starting a pilot without measuring first. Then nobody knows at the end whether it paid off.
• Starting too big instead of with one workflow.

How to calculate

Total cost over two years = setup + 24 × ongoing cost per month. Set this against the value the agent creates, and only the part that has an economic effect (see Capacity is not profit).

For orientation, our own packages: analysis with BYTEC AI Discover from CHF 4,900, setup with BYTEC AI Transform from CHF 19,900 one-off, support with BYTEC AI Partner from CHF 2,500 per month, each excluding VAT. AI usage, licences and infrastructure are always shown separately.

When further workflows are added, they share part of the setup and the support. That is why it pays to start small and expand after a successful pilot.