Less Hours, More Revenue
The curve that matters: hours per outcome fall every cycle while revenue recurs.
The thing that has to be true for this to be worth doing: a path to recurring revenue where the consultant hours invested trend down over time. That is exactly what putting AI inside X10 produces.
The curve
As AI absorbs the mechanical work, hours per outcome fall every cycle while the revenue recurs. Same outcome, less labor, repeatable.
| Outcome | Hours today | With AI | Direction |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cribl pipeline build | 3–6 h | 30–60 min | ↓ |
| Full Splunk/Cribl health assessment | ~40 h | < 4 h | ↓ |
| Splunk SVC reduction (Quest-style) | 96 h one-time | continuous; hours fall each cycle | ↓↓ |
These figures are directional, drawn from internal estimates and the Quest/HEB proof points — not a guaranteed benchmark. We publish measured numbers after the first three assessments. Measuring actual COGS (Cost of Goods Sold) is the highest-leverage near-term task, and it needs no customer.
Why hours fall (and don't just disappear)
First engagement: codify the method
The first time through, an engineer does the work with AI and captures the pattern. Hours are already lower than the manual baseline.
Next engagements: reuse the pattern
Codified patterns mean each subsequent customer takes a fraction of the first. HEB went from ~40 hours to a fraction once the method was worked out.
Subscription: the work becomes monitoring
Continuous re-assessment turns re-doing into light-touch monitoring. The recurring revenue arrives with steadily less labor behind it.
The shape of the business this creates
Recurring revenue
Subscriptions and renewals compound on top of proven, delivered value.
Falling labor
Hours per outcome drop every cycle as patterns get codified.
Protected margin
Senior review stays constant; AI removes the grind, not the judgment.
Honest guardrail
We do not claim 99% margins or near-zero COGS — those fabricated figures were retracted internally. The real cost is engineer review time, false-positive handling, and support. We track every hour on the first three engagements and report the true numbers. The story is "less labor over time," not "free."