Softment

RAG Stack

Knowledge Base Engineering

RAG quality depends on the knowledge base. We engineer content structure, ownership, freshness workflows, permissions, and ingestion so assistants stay accurate and auditable—not stale or contradictory. Delivery aligned to United Kingdom teams (GBP).

TimelineTypical: 2–6 weeks (scope-dependent)
Starting at$1.4k
Security-first AI integrations • Evals + logging + guardrails included

Standard

AI delivery standard

Quality and safety practices we ship with AI builds so the system stays measurable, maintainable, and production-ready.

Logging + tracing

Conversation and tool traces with request IDs, error visibility, and debug-friendly runbooks.

Guardrails + safety

Tool allowlists, PII-safe patterns, refusal behavior, and escalation routes for edge cases.

Evals + regression tests

Golden queries, scorecards, and regression checks so quality improves over time instead of drifting.

Cost + latency controls

Caching, prompt discipline, retrieval tuning, and routing so your app stays fast and predictable at scale.

Documentation + handoff

Architecture notes, environment setup, and next-step roadmap so your team can iterate safely after launch.

Security-first integration

Secrets isolation, role-based access, audit-friendly actions, and minimal data retention by design.

Benefits

What you get

Improve RAG accuracy by fixing the source content layer

Reduce contradictions and stale answers

Add ownership and update workflows

Implement permission-aware structures

Enable incremental indexing and freshness checks

Create an audit-friendly knowledge system

Features

What we deliver

Information architecture

Structure content into consistent hierarchies (topics, products, versions) so retrieval has clean boundaries.

Ownership and update workflows

Define owners, review cycles, and change tracking so knowledge stays fresh and trustworthy.

Permission-aware organization

Design access boundaries and metadata so retrieval respects roles and tenant isolation.

Ingestion and normalization

Normalize docs, wikis, and help centers into consistent formats with stable IDs and metadata.

Freshness and drift monitoring

Detect stale content and drift using change signals and evaluation queries.

Quality playbooks

Guidelines for authorship, formatting, and content updates that keep RAG quality high long-term.

Process

How we work

1
1-2 weeks

Discovery

Requirements gathering and planning

2
2-3 weeks

Design

UI/UX design and prototyping

3
6-12 weeks

Development

Iterative sprints with demos

4
1-2 weeks

Launch

Deployment and support

Tech Stack

Technologies we use

Core

Knowledge architectureMetadata strategyPermission modelsIngestion pipelines

Tools

Evaluation queriesRAG best practicesVector databasesHybrid search

Services

MonitoringDocumentation workflows

Use Cases

Who this is for

Support knowledge base cleanup

Reduce contradictory answers by restructuring and standardizing support content and ownership.

Enterprise internal documentation

Permission-aware knowledge architecture for SOPs, policies, and internal runbooks.

Product documentation organization

Versioned content structure so assistants answer correctly for the right product versions.

Multi-source knowledge consolidation

Consolidate Notion/Confluence/Drive/Help Center into a coherent retrieval-ready structure.

RAG quality stabilization

Fix knowledge issues that cause retrieval errors and hallucination-like behavior in answers.

AI Case Examples

Micro case studies (anonymous)

A few safe examples of outcomes we build for real operations—no client names, just results.

Secure Mobile Solution in Australian Defence Ecosystem

Problem: Secure data workflows were required in a regulated environment with strict access controls.

Solution: Hardened architecture with strict auth, encrypted storage, and audit-friendly engineering patterns.

Outcome: Deployed securely within a regulated ecosystem with clear handoff and operational guidance.

AI Knowledge Base Across 2,000+ Pages

Problem: Teams needed fast answers across long PDFs, but search was slow and results were inconsistent.

Solution: RAG with hybrid retrieval and reranking, plus grounded answers and safer fallback behavior.

Outcome: Reliable answers with <10s response times and measurable improvements on real queries.

Ops Automation with AI + n8n

Problem: Manual approvals and CRM syncing created delays and data inconsistencies across tools.

Solution: Event-driven automation with validation gates and AI-assisted classification where it improved routing.

Outcome: Reduced manual workload significantly with more reliable workflows and operator visibility.

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

If the knowledge base is inconsistent, stale, or poorly structured, retrieval will surface weak sources. Knowledge engineering fixes the root content layer so retrieval improves.

Not always. We usually restructure, normalize, and add ownership/workflows first, then improve high-impact content iteratively.

Yes. We can connect and normalize content from Notion/Confluence/Drive/Help Centers depending on access constraints.

We implement owners, review cycles, change tracking, and incremental indexing so updates are systematic, not ad-hoc.

Yes. We design permission-aware structures and metadata so retrieval respects access boundaries.

No. Better knowledge architecture improves human search and onboarding too, but it’s especially valuable for reliable AI outputs.

Regional

Delivery considerations for your region

Compliance & Data (UK/EU)

For UK teams, we default to GDPR-first thinking: data minimisation, purpose-limited storage, and clear access boundaries.

We can work under a DPA (template available on request) and implement practical retention/deletion flows when needed.

  • GDPR-first patterns (minimise, restrict, document)
  • DPA template available on request
  • Retention/deletion and export flows where required
  • Least-privilege access and secure session handling
  • PII-safe logging + secure-by-default configuration
  • NDA available for early-stage discussions

Timezone & Collaboration (UK/EU)

We align to UK time and EU overlap (GMT/BST with CET-friendly windows) for fast feedback cycles.

We keep the process lightweight: async updates, clear priorities, and written decisions to avoid ambiguity.

  • UK/EU overlap with GMT/BST windows
  • Async-first delivery with documented scope
  • Weekly milestones and structured demos
  • Clear escalation path for blockers
  • Tight change control with clear sign-offs

Engagement & Procurement (UK)

We support typical UK procurement flows with clear scopes, change control, and invoice cadence.

If you prefer a discovery-first engagement, we can run a short paid discovery to lock requirements before build.

  • GBP-based engagements and invoicing options
  • Discovery-first option to reduce delivery risk
  • Milestone-based billing when appropriate
  • Transparent change control and sign-offs
  • Vendor onboarding pack on request

Security & Quality (UK/EU)

We build for reliability and maintainability: clean PRs, tight review loops, and test coverage that matches risk.

Performance budgets and release checklists keep launches predictable—especially when multiple stakeholders review changes.

  • CI-friendly testing: unit + integration + smoke tests
  • Performance budgets + bundle checks (Core Web Vitals-minded)
  • Structured release notes and rollback-safe deployments
  • Security checklist for auth, roles, and data flows
  • Observability hooks (logs + error tracking) ready for production
Ready to start?

Want help with knowledge base engineering?

Get a clear plan for United Kingdom teams—scope, timeline, and next steps. GBP-based engagements.

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