AI at 300 Hours? The Estimate Is Below the Industry Floor: A Three-Method Cross-Check
An IT specialist's estimate of 300 hours for a business accounting system upgrade was challenged by the client, who claimed AI could do it in an evening. The specialist recalculated the scope using three independent methods, revealing his own estimate was below the lowest industry benchmarks. The 412 function points would actually take between ~990 (low-code 90th percentile) and ~12,400 hours (COCOMO II nominal), according to ISBSG data.
Anthropic
Google/DeepMind





