AI Business Case Template

Overview

Getting AI initiatives funded requires more than technical enthusiasm—it requires disciplined business justification. Executives evaluating AI investments want to see: What problem are we solving? What's the expected return? What are the risks? How long until we see results?

This professional business case template provides the complete structure for AI investment proposals. It's designed to help AI leaders secure funding by presenting initiatives in the language executives understand—financial returns, risk mitigation, and strategic alignment.

What's Inside

• Executive Summary Section: Structured format for total investment, expected ROI, payback period, and risk level—the key metrics executives scan first
• Problem Statement & Opportunity: Framework for articulating current state pain points and the business impact of inaction
• Proposed Solution Overview: Structure for describing the AI solution, key features, and how it addresses the problem
• Build vs. Buy Analysis: Comparison matrix covering initial cost, ongoing cost, time to deploy, customization, maintenance burden, and vendor risk
• Investment Analysis: Detailed cost breakdown by category (software, implementation, infrastructure, personnel, training, consulting, contingency)
• Benefits Analysis: Structured framework for quantifying cost reduction, revenue increase, productivity gains, and risk avoidance
• ROI Summary: Calculations for 3-year total investment, total benefit, net benefit, ROI percentage, and payback period
• Risk Assessment Matrix: Framework for evaluating technical, data, adoption, vendor, and regulatory risks with likelihood, impact, and mitigation strategies
• Implementation Timeline: Phased approach covering discovery, development, testing, pilot, rollout, and optimization with key activities and durations
• Approval Workflow: Sign-off structure for business sponsor, CAIO, and finance

Who This Is For

• AI/ML Leaders seeking funding for AI initiatives
• Product Managers justifying AI feature investments
• Business Unit Leaders proposing AI solutions for operational challenges
• Innovation Teams building cases for AI experimentation
• Anyone who needs to secure executive approval for AI investments

Why This Resource

This template reflects how executives actually evaluate AI investments. The structure prioritizes the information decision-makers need: financial returns, risk profile, and implementation feasibility. It forces the disciplined analysis that separates funded initiatives from rejected proposals.

The format is designed for executive review—clear tables, scannable summaries, and professional presentation. It's the difference between a proposal that gets discussed and one that gets approved.

FAQ

Q: What financial information should I include?

A: The template covers both costs (software, implementation, infrastructure, personnel, training, consulting, contingency) and benefits (cost reduction, revenue increase, productivity gains, risk avoidance). Include all costs you can identify—executives trust proposals that don't hide costs. Be conservative on benefits—credibility matters more than optimistic projections.

Q: How detailed should the risk assessment be?

A: Include the major risk categories (technical complexity, data quality, user adoption, vendor dependency, regulatory compliance) with honest assessment of likelihood and impact. More importantly, include mitigation strategies—executives want to see that you've thought through how to manage risks.

Q: Should I include build vs. buy analysis?

A: Yes, even if the answer seems obvious. Executives often ask "why not build this ourselves?" or "why not just buy a solution?" Having the analysis ready demonstrates thorough evaluation. If your recommendation is clear, the analysis supports it.