The team
More issues resolved per hour: where does the time go?
An assistant can make room for more work. The financial question is where that room goes next: additional profitable work, spending that really stops, or service you value before its money effect is known.
Uneven gains, human control
Gains were uneven, and the highest-skilled agents showed small declines in quality. The assistant was introduced in stages rather than randomly assigned, so the evidence rests on differences in timing. The average is real, but it hides who benefited most and whose work needed closer review.
Capacity or cash?
Application of general finance, not a study result: fixed salaries do not shrink because a tool frees time. Released hours become money in two main ways: additional profitable work the team now handles, or spending that genuinely stops, such as overtime, contractor hours or a hire you no longer need.
Count each hour once
If a freed hour serves an extra customer, its value is the margin on that work; the same hour cannot also be claimed as wages removed. Faster or better service still matters and belongs on the record, labeled as a service benefit until a financial effect is actually shown.
Before rolling assistance out, decide what the released time is for: more profitable work, a specific cost you will stop, or service you value but won't price yet.