Printable implementation checklist
Knowledge Assistants: Readiness Checklist
Knowledge Assistants: Readiness Checklist organizes the decisions that matter for businesses building internal assistants grounded in documents, policies, products, support information, or operational knowledge: the current workflow, ownership, implementation choices, rollout risk, and acceptance evidence.
Working artifact
Knowledge Assistants rollout scorecard
Use the scorecard to keep each phase tied to an operating outcome rather than a list of completed tasks.
| Phase | Required outcome | Proof before proceeding |
|---|---|---|
| Phase 1: Document ingestion and knowledge indexing | Reduce or resolve employees search several repositories for one answer | Verified result involving RAG architecture and vector search |
| Phase 2: Retrieval-augmented question answering | Reduce or resolve generic AI invents policies or product facts | Verified result involving document parsing and metadata |
| Phase 3: Citations and source traceability | Reduce or resolve sensitive documents must respect access levels | Verified result involving identity-aware retrieval |
Before discovery
Employees search several repositories for one answer. Confirm who encounters it, where it occurs, and what changed before it appeared. Then distinguish the visible symptom from dependencies such as RAG architecture and vector search.
- Name the decision owner
- List systems and vendors
- Collect examples and exact errors
- Confirm who controls access
Before implementation
For Custom AI Assistants & Knowledge Systems, confirm account ownership, current exports or backups, recovery options, and recent changes before touching production. Preserve exact errors and timestamps that may disappear after a restart or update.
- Confirm backup and restore path
- Write acceptance checks
- Identify security or privacy constraints
- Document exclusions
Before launch
Frame the first scope around document ingestion and knowledge indexing and one observable acceptance journey. Treat retrieval-augmented question answering as a later phase unless the evidence shows it is a true dependency.
- Document ingestion and knowledge indexing
- Retrieval-augmented question answering
- Citation and confidence interfaces
- Rollback decision point
Before handoff
Repair fits when the core remains sound. Extension fits when the boundary around RAG architecture and vector search is understood. Replacement fits when ownership, architecture, or operating risk prevents a responsible change.
- Current documentation
- Account and domain ownership
- Monitoring responsibility
- Prioritized next steps