We’ve been talking about artificial intelligence (AI) for more than five decades. But the combination of scalable cloud technology, faster microprocessing, and big data analytics has finally led us to take AI concepts and build AI solutions that can solve key business challenges.

Today, executives responsible for their organization’s knowledge management processes are looking for ways to improve how their employees can capture, find, and use knowledge to increase productivity and efficiency. But what is the connection between AI and knowledge management (KM) — and how can you use these intelligent digital solutions to enhance how your organization uses knowledge?

The AI and KM connection

KM is the process of capturing, storing, and retaining intellectual capital from employees to allow others within an organization to use it. Sophisticated KM software helps keep track of all the processes, workflows, data, and documents employees use. As your company grows, it becomes more difficult to process vast amounts of organizational knowledge — much less use it to improve decision-making. This is where AI and cognitive computing can help.

The Three Types of AI

AI can help support and enable three essential knowledge management needs: automation, data analysis, and enhancing customer / employee engagement.

• Cognitive Insights,“analytics on steroids” – these machine learning apps are used to predict what a customer is likely to buy, automate personalized targeting of digital ads, or put things into categories. Deloitte’s audit practice is using cognitive insight to extract terms from contracts.

• Process Automation, the most common type of of AI – best defined as the automation of digital and physical tasks using Robotic process automation technologies. Tasks can include: transferring data from email and phone systems into systems of record, reading legal and contractual documents to extract provisions using natural language processing, or updating customer files and CRM systems.

• Cognitive Engagement – chat bots or intelligent agents that can offer customer service, answer employee questions, or route engagements to the proper resource.

An effective KM & AI combination can help by gathering information in a single location so personnel can find and use relevant information when they need it, get answers in real-time, and respond faster to customers. Cognitive technology is here and organizations that are embracing this technology are finding themselves well position to reap the benefits.

Benefits of combining AI & KM:

• Smarter and more predictive search capabilities help users locate information more quickly.
• If your user can’t find the answer they are looking for, AI  can route that user to the right internal resource.
• Enable users to seek out actionable intelligence, correlate industry trends, or even suggest smarter new workflows.
• Create smarter and more accessible ways to present information to users across the enterprise.
• Tap into new and historical data to improve real-time decision-making.

To successfully adopt AI, organizations should take an incremental approach that focuses on augmenting rather than replacing human capabilities.  The combination of AI and KM can help take organizational knowledge and reframe it in new ways to provide the right information at the right time.

Ready to give AI a try? Learn more about ikaun