See It Work — For every dollar of tech, budget three for people | Book 12 · The Agentic Enterprise

Boards ask 'how much should we invest in AI agents?' The honest answer isn't a single number — but it starts with a fact that inverts most people's instinct: people are 60-65% of the cost; model tokens are only 5-10%. So for every dollar you budget for technology, budget about three for people. The chapter gives a structured way to size, prioritize, and measure the investment.

For every dollar of tech, budget three for people — full detailed chart

The full detailed chart. Condensed for print legibility in the book; shown here at full size.

Budget like the cost is the technology and your transformation starves the thing that actually drives it — the people. The investment framework puts the money where the value is.

What this means for you

People are most of the cost, so budget three dollars for people per dollar of tech. What this means for you: you fund the transformation where the value actually comes from — the people doing the work — instead of over-spending on technology and starving the change of the talent that makes it pay off.

The investment splits opposite to most instincts:

Investment Framework

people60-65% of cost

model tokensonly 5-10%

the rule$1 tech : $3 people

thensize · prioritize · measure

People are 60-65% of the cost; model tokens are only 5-10% — invert the instinct.

For the technical reader — the command, and how to verify it yourself

# one line · you do not need to run this
see walkthrough

see walkthrough
# -> where AI investment actually goes — three dollars of people per dollar of tech

Full step-by-step is in Appendix RX: Hands-On Demonstrations in the book.