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Company Brain · the AI knowledge base for your company

Company Brain: your people ask, and get the answer with the document it comes from

The Company Brain is your company’s own searchable memory, a knowledge base you can query in plain language. It covers procedures, manuals, contracts and ERP data, from every department and every site. Each answer shows the document, revision and date, and everyone sees only what their role allows.

Illustration of company documents and an ERP table linked to an answer that cites its sources, with permissions by department.
Example · the documents and data in this illustration are not real
Source shown
document, revision and date beside every answer
Role-based permissions
set by department and tested before launch
Your data, where you decide
location and providers written into the project

01 · copy the link to this sectionThe situation

The knowledge is there, but no one can find it

In a company with several departments and sites, information is not missing. It is scattered.

Procedures are in the document management system. Instructions are on the intranet. Decisions are in email threads, and the figures are in the ERP.

You see the cost every day. A quote is rewritten from scratch because a similar one doesn’t turn up. Two sites apply different versions of the same instruction. The internal help desk answers the same questions every week.

Another search engine is not enough. It returns lists of files, not answers. You need to decide which sources count, keep them up to date and make them searchable in plain language, with clear access rules.

A shelf of binders, a sticky note, an email forwarded many times and three versions of the same procedure in a shared folder.

02 · copy the link to this sectionHow it works

How does a Company Brain work?

It is an AI assistant that answers using only the sources the company has approved. It respects the permissions of the person asking and logs every query.

The technique is called RAG (retrieval-augmented generation). For each question, the system finds the relevant passages in the authorised documents, and the assistant answers from those passages and cites them. Your company’s documents are not used to train the model.

Data stays where the company decides. Location and providers are set out in writing in the project.

From sources to answer

01The sourcesOnly the documents and data the department head approves.
02The permissionsEveryone finds only what their role allows them to read.
03The answerIt is short and shows document, revision and date. If the sources are not enough, it is designed to say so.
04The logWho asked what, and with which sources, kept for as long as the company decides.

03 · copy the link to this sectionThe first department

Which department do you start with?

Just one. Choose the one with recurring questions, documents in good order and someone willing to take ownership. The others follow later, with a method already proven.

AI Purchasing Specifications, supplier terms and order history. These are the questions that go round by email today.
AI Internal technical support The technician gets the answer with a reference to the exact page of the manual.
AI Quality Procedures and non-conformities, with the current revision clearly separated from the others.
AI Sales A new quote starts from past quotes and the standard terms.

The right department has recurring questions, digital documents with an owner, little personal data and a contact person with time to give.

04 · copy the link to this sectionHow we work

From the first conversation to your first department going live

We go one department at a time, with criteria written in advance and checked at handover.

First conversation

Which department to start with and who to involve, such as IT, security and data protection.

Initial assessment

Which documents exist, what state they are in and who needs to consult them.

First department

At handover, the department checks the answers against questions prepared in advance, and every access profile is tested.

Roll-out

Further departments follow one at a time, with the same criteria.

Ongoing use

It passes to your in-house team with the documentation, or to Strategic, with support times and terms written into the contract.

What does it cost, and how do we start?
It depends on the state of the documents and on the systems to connect. The first conversation carries no commitment. If there is work to be done, you receive a written proposal for the initial assessment, usually one or two days of work with the people involved. After the assessment comes the proposal for the project, with phases, timing and costs.
How long does it take?
The proposal sets out phases and milestones for the first department. Starting with just one department also means the first result comes early.
What does the company keep?
Project documents, the permissions table, test questions with their expected answers, and instructions for whoever administers the system.
What if the answers are not convincing?
The system is not extended until it passes the test questions. It is fixed first.

05 · copy the link to this sectionConfidentiality

Deciding up front who can read what

Permissions, retention and providers are agreed with IT, security and the data protection officer (DPO), and put in writing before work starts.

Updated 16 September 2026

Example: who reads what in the quality area

An illustrative example that does not concern a real client. In the first project, HR records stay out of scope for everyone.

Role · SourceQuality proceduresTechnical manualsSupplier contractsERP: ordersHR records
Qualityyesyesquality clauses onlyyesno
Technical supportyesyesnoassigned jobs onlyno
Purchasingyesnoyesyesno
Plant managementyesyesyesyesno

The decisions to put in writing

  1. Sources. Which ones are included, which are not, and who decides.
  2. Permissions. Who approves exceptions, how often permissions are reviewed, and how they are removed when someone changes role.
  3. Log. What is recorded, who reads it, for how long, and how people are informed about it.
  4. Data and providers. Where the data is stored and processed is decided with the company’s IT team and written into the project. As a rule, we choose services that process data within the European Union. (second opinion on vendors)

The rules to bear in mind

The GDPR applies. It requires data to be limited to what the purpose needs and, where the risk is high, a data protection impact assessment. The assistant identifies itself as AI (AI Act, since 2 August 2026). The log also concerns your own staff. In Italy, your lawyers should assess Article 4 of the Workers’ Statute (Statuto dei lavoratori, Law 300/1970), which governs tools that make remote monitoring of staff possible. In San Marino, Law 171/2018 on data protection applies. The full timeline with sources

This is general information, not legal advice. Each project should be assessed with the company’s DPO and lawyers.

Sources (consulted on 15 September 2026)

06 · copy the link to this sectionData and actions

Beyond documents: ERP data and actions

‘Which non-conformities are open for this supplier, and what does the procedure say?’ Answering that takes a figure from the ERP and a passage from the manual.

The assistant reads data in the ERP and in Oracle databases but cannot change it. Access is set up by specialists who know those databases and take care not to slow them down.

When an answer needs to become an action, such as a purchase request, an AI agent steps in. It prepares the operation, a person approves it, and the system carries it out and logs it.

Oracle & Database EngineeringAI agents and integrations

Illustration of an operation prepared from an ERP record and a passage of a procedure, waiting for a person’s approval.

07 · copy the link to this sectionSecurity

Before launch: the security checks

An assistant that consults your archives is a new way into your data. Before launch, it is tested against four questions.

  • Can indirect questions extract a document the user is not entitled to see?
  • Can text hidden in a document change how the assistant behaves?
  • What ends up in the logs, and who reads them?
  • What happens if the model provider goes down or changes its terms?
Illustration of a register of AI systems, showing a blocked request and the reason for it.

08 · copy the link to this sectionOver time

Who keeps it up to date?

Answers stay reliable if someone looks after the sources after handover. That is why ownership is decided from the start.

AI An owner in each department They decide what goes in and approve exceptions.
AI Outdated documents withdrawn They are removed from the sources, or kept as history and clearly labelled as such.
AI Answers measured The test questions are repeated at fixed intervals and after every change.
AI Permissions reviewed Whenever the organisation chart, roles or sites change.

09 · copy the link to this sectionStrategic Labs

One company, one memory, three doors

The same knowledge, curated once, serves different people.

Only content approved for external use goes outside, and every assistant identifies itself as AI. These are Strategic tools (Kristina Reply is distributed by Strategic). When they are among the options, we say so and compare them with the alternatives.

Diagram with the organisation’s knowledge at the centre and three points of access, for staff, for management and for people who write to the company.

AI

The core · Company Brain

The approved sources, with permissions and a log.

AI

Your staff

They consult it within the permissions of their role.

LAB

Management

DIREKTA, the executive assistant on WhatsApp.

LAB

People who write to the company

Kristina Reply on WhatsApp and Autochatter on WordPress sites.

10 · copy the link to this sectionPrinciples

What we don’t do

  • We don’t connect every source at once. We start with one department.
  • We don’t launch a department without a source owner appointed by the company.
  • We don’t replace your archive, intranet or ERP. The Company Brain consults them, and they remain the reference.
  • We don’t promise answers that are always right. We measure how often they are, and we say where the system should not be used.
An archive is organised once. An organisation’s knowledge needs care every day.

11 · copy the link to this sectionFrequently asked questions

Frequently asked questions about the Company Brain

What is the difference between a traditional knowledge base and a Company Brain?
A traditional knowledge base is a library of articles written for the purpose and searched by keyword. A Company Brain works on the sources the company already has. It answers questions written the way people speak and cites the original passage. It also applies the permissions of the person asking and logs the query.
How do you stop someone reading information they are not allowed to see?
With a table that maps roles and departments to sources, approved in the project. The filter works before any text reaches the assistant, so an excluded document is not used for the answer. Every profile is tested before launch, and the test is repeated when the organisation chart changes.
Where are the documents stored and processed?
Where the data is stored and processed is decided with the company’s IT team and written into the project. As a rule, we choose services that process data within the European Union. For the archive, the index, the model and the logs, the project states where each one is held, which provider is involved and what the contract says about retention and training.
How are different versions of the same document handled?
The revision named by the source owner is the one that counts. Earlier ones are removed or kept as history, marked as no longer valid. Each answer shows the revision and date, so the reader can see at once whether it rests on an up-to-date document.
How do you measure whether the answers are correct?
With test questions and expected answers, prepared by the department before handover. They are repeated at fixed intervals and after every change of sources or model. The source owner also checks a sample of real queries.
What does the first department cost, and how long does it take?
It depends on the state of the sources, the systems to connect and the security checks required. That is why there is no price list. The first conversation carries no commitment. If there is work to be done, you receive a written proposal for the initial assessment, usually one or two days of work with the people involved. After the assessment comes the proposal for the project, with phases, timing and costs.

12 · copy the link to this sectionObservatory

From the Observatory: artificial intelligence

Analysis and guides by the Strategic editorial team.

All articles on artificial intelligence

The essential parts of this page print as a short summary of a few pages, without images or invitations to get in touch.

13 · copy the link to this sectionContact

Which department should you start with? Let’s work it out together.

A few lines are enough. Tell us which department you would start with, where the documents are today and who handles the topic for IT. We reply by email, usually within two working days.

Please do not include confidential documents or data in the form.

On WhatsApp, messages are answered by Strategic’s AI assistant. Please do not use it for confidential information.

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