From Cost to Clarity

“It’s too expensive!”

I was told about a local aerospace SME in the wholesale supply chain that handles hundreds of RFQs each month. Success depends on speed of response, competitive pricing, and accuracy of specifications — the faster the quote, the higher the chance of winning the job.

The owner recognised that manual RFQ processing was too slow and error-prone, and began exploring AI-driven automation to reduce turnaround time and improve accuracy. However, when a vendor proposed an AI solution costing $X,000 a month — higher than any other software they were using — he hesitated. He declined the proposal because he was uncertain about the ROI and worried that time savings might not translate into higher sales.

For now, the business continues to do well thanks to strong airline industry demand. But as competitors automate, they will quote faster, win more jobs, and gradually take market share.

Let’s assume the owner has done his homework and concluded that this vendor’s product is the only one that meets his needs. Still, he cannot get past three concerns:

• whether the vendor can be trusted,
• whether the cost is justifiable, and
• whether productivity gains will translate into sales.

Reframing: from “Cost” to “Tuition Fees”

A potential way to break this impasse is to think about the cost differently. What if the $X,000 per month isn’t a recurring expense, but the price of finding out something that directly affects the company’s survival?

“Can AI really save his team’s time And can that time be converted into more valuable work?”

The owner doesn’t need to commit to the full cost immediately. He can request a short-term pilot with clearly defined success criteria — for example, quotation time reduced by 30% and conversion rate improved by 20%.

Push, Pause or Pivot?

There will be 3 clear pathways for him at the end of the pilot:

a.       Push: The criteria are met and the project can continue.

b.       Pause: He realises that results are mixed, so he needs to refine what to measure or how the test is run. For example he defines speed, but actually accuracy is the bottleneck.  So the specifications of the project needs to be re-defined.

c.       Pivot: The pilot shows that success criteria cannot be met, then he needs to stop the current project and try another vendor or automation strategy.

Now, the business owner can make clear decisions based on evidence, instead of being handicapped by fear.