The Economics of Corporate Meetings: Measuring Cost, Value, and Impact in Software Engineering- A Data-Driven Approach to Optimizing Meetings in the Software Industry Using Cloud, AI, and Productivity Analytics

In modern software engineering organizations, meetings serve as critical collaboration tools but are often poorly structured, mismanaged, and inefficient, leading to substantial productivity loss and financial overhead. While structured meetings are essential for agile methodologies, architectural decision-making, and cross-functional alignment, the lack of quantifiable cost assessment and real-time insights results in excessive and ineffective time expenditures. This research initially proposed the development of a Microsoft Teams-integrated plugin to automate the measurement of real-time meeting costs and return on investment (ROI). However, preliminary feasibility analysis revealed high technical complexity, significant development effort, and enterprise-level compliance challenges associated with direct Teams integration. Consequently, the study pivoted to a Minimum Viable Product (MVP)—an internally developed cloud-based tool designed to compute meeting costs dynamically based on participant designations and hourly rates. The tool also incorporated AI-driven meeting analytics and post-meeting ROI surveys to assess the effectiveness of discussions and their impact on team productivity. A pilot study was conducted with software engineering teams, demonstrating that real-time meeting cost visibility leads to a measurable reduction in unnecessary meetings, improved agenda discipline, and increased efficiency in time management. Findings highlight that data-driven insights into meeting costs foster behavioral shifts that enhance operational efficiency, financial optimization, and workforce satisfaction. The research establishes a scalable framework for optimizing corporate meetings using AI, cloud-driven automation, and real-time analytics. Future work focuses on the development of a Microsoft Teams-integrated AI-powered plugin, leveraging Microsoft Graph API for automated tracking, AI-based summarization for decision intelligence, and predictive analytics for strategic meeting scheduling. This study presents a practical roadmap for enterprise leaders seeking to implement cost-aware meeting cultures, enhance engineering team efficiency, and drive data-driven collaboration at scale.