Concept mockup Not an official MPI publication. Independent concept artefact by Andrew Loughran in support of an application for the Senior Adviser (AI for Standards) role. Read the legal notice & disclaimer
Biosecurity Import & Export Standards Directorate Ko ngā Paerewa Whakauru me te Whakaputa Koiora
Concept artefact · v1.0 · May 2026
Overview › Value Model
Interactive · slide the assumptions

Value Model: an honest, adjustable estimate of what the Standards Companion suite delivers.

The defaults below are the central case from the Needs Analysis. Slide any assumption to see the impact on analyst hours saved, FTE equivalent, dollar value, and cycle time. The aim is a defensible working case, not a precision claim.

Method bottom-up from observed BIES output
Defaults central case, intentionally conservative
Adjust any input, the model recalculates live
The model

Adjust the assumptions. The numbers move with you.

Inputs on the left. Outputs on the right. Every output recalculates live.

102540
Indicative range from the BIES consultation register. Default 25 (central case).
2050120
Read submissions, cluster, draft Review of Submissions. Range from narrow technical to contentious. Default 50.
51540
Late-stage drafting QA cycles per IHS. Default 15.
01240
Drafting plain-language importer guidance after IHS publication. Default 12.
0520
Drafting industry notifications and stakeholder briefings per amendment. Default 5.
20%55%80%
Share of the work the tool genuinely takes off the analyst, with all controls in place. Default 55% (conservative).
$60$95$160
Public service Range D loaded hourly rate, indicative. Default $95.
1,4001,6501,800
Net of leave, training, internal meetings. Default 1,650.

Live result

Annual analyst hours freed
1,142
FTE equivalent
0.69
Indicative dollar value (NZD)
$108,500
Hours from synthesis
688
Hours from consistency
206
Hours from plain language
165
Hours from notification
69

What the dollar value does and does not include

Includes: the time-cost equivalent of analyst hours freed, at a representative loaded public service hourly rate. This is the number a finance review will recognise.

Does not include: faster IHS cycle time effect on trade access, reduced inbound importer enquiry volume to Border Clearance and Plant/Animal Imports teams, lifted consistency reducing future submission volume, reduced legal and reputational risk from drafting inconsistencies surfacing in consultation, the option value of having a working AI capability inside the directorate that future workstreams can call on. Each of these is real. None is in the dollar number above.

How to use this with finance

A defensible business case follows three steps. One, run the model with the central case defaults. Two, run a low-case scenario (automation factor 30%, IHS volume 18). Three, run a high-case (automation factor 70%, IHS volume 32). Present the central case as the working assumption, the low-case as the floor, and treat the high-case as upside, not commitment. Add the second-order benefits qualitatively. The headline analyst-hour saving is the testable claim; everything else is supporting.

Implementation costs that net against the saving

A complete picture also accounts for: one Senior Adviser FTE running the programme (this role); Anthropic API call costs (negligible at this volume, indicative under $5,000 per year on the public model API); engagement time with Te Tiriti partners and SMEs in the first 90 days; one quarterly evaluation cycle of 40 hours; and any change to MPI's information governance policy required to operate the audit trail. None of these are large at the scale modelled. None are zero.