The certification standard for AI‑delivered value.

02 — How certification works

03 — The Delivered Value framework

The Delivered Value framework defines five categories of value an AI agent can deliver. Every certified figure resolves to one of them. Each category has a defined formula, applied consistently across every receipt.

Where a formula depends on inputs that aren't directly measurable from signals — an hourly rate, a baseline incident rate — Paid proposes an industry benchmark. The vendor confirms, corrects, or replaces it with a customer-specific value. Once agreed, the inputs are locked on the receipt alongside the version of the framework used.

04.1 — Human Value Equivalent

Human Value Equivalent

Measures the value of work the AI performed that would otherwise have been done by a person, expressed in currency.

Actions

Count of completed agent actions, captured from underlying signals.

Minutes per action

Calibrated time a person would take to perform the equivalent task. Paid proposes an industry benchmark; the vendor confirms or adjusts it, and may substitute a customer-specific value where one applies.

Hourly rate

Fully-loaded rate for the role being replaced. Paid proposes a published labour benchmark for the relevant region and seniority; the vendor confirms or adjusts.

04.2 — Time Saved

Time Saved

Measures hours returned to your team. Reported in time, currency, or both.

Minutes saved per action is the difference between the time a task takes with and without the AI in the loop. Paid proposes a benchmark; the vendor confirms or substitutes a measured customer-specific value.

Time Saved differs from Human Value Equivalent in that the work was still performed by a person — the AI made it faster. HVE counts work the AI performed instead of a person; Time Saved counts time given back to a person who is still in the loop.

04.3 — Cost Savings

Cost Savings

Measures direct cost reduction — spend that did not occur because the AI handled the action.

Cost avoided per action is the documented unit cost of the alternative — a vendor fee, an infrastructure cost, an outsourced service rate. Paid proposes a benchmark where appropriate; the vendor confirms or substitutes the actual cost they previously incurred. The agreed value is recorded on the receipt.

04.4 — Revenue Generated

Revenue Generated

Measures revenue directly attributable to AI actions — qualified leads, closed deals, conversions.

Where the outcome is realised revenue (a closed deal), the fixed formula applies. Where the outcome is pipeline or qualified opportunity, a conversion rate is applied. Paid proposes a benchmark conversion rate; the vendor confirms or substitutes their measured rate. Attribution windows and the agreed conversion rate are recorded on the receipt.

04.5 — Risk Avoided

Risk Avoided

Measures incidents that did not occur because of AI action — compliance violations caught, security events prevented, errors stopped before impact. Reported in event count, currency, or both.

Risk Avoided is the hardest category to measure, because it depends on a counterfactual: incidents that would have occurred but didn't. Paid handles this two ways. Where the agent demonstrably blocked an event (a flagged transaction, a caught violation), the incident is counted directly from the signal. Where the calculation relies on a baseline rate — for instance, one compliance issue per 500 contracts at $15,000 each — Paid proposes a benchmark and the vendor confirms or substitutes the customer's own historical rate. The agreed baseline is recorded on the receipt.

05 — Scope of certification

What certification covers, and what it doesn't.

Certification confirms that the underlying signals are real, the inputs were agreed between Paid and the vendor, and the Delivered Value framework was applied correctly at the recorded version. It is a statement about the integrity of the calculation.

Certification does not constitute a guarantee of future performance, business outcomes, or fitness for purpose. Whether the AI is the right tool for your business — and whether the value will repeat next month — is between you and your vendor.

06 — About Paid

Paid is the revenue infrastructure layer for the AI economy. The Delivered Value framework is the standard we maintain and publish for measuring AI-delivered value consistently across vendors.