In the heart of every organisation lies a beast. It's not a ferocious creature, but a silent behemoth, growing exponentially with each passing day. 

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This beast is the unstructured, widely dispersed, and often elusive pool of knowledge within a company. This knowledge, embedded in individual minds, business processes, policy documents, operational transactions, discussion boards, and countless online chats and meetings, constitutes an organisation's intellectual capital. 

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Studies show that as much as 90% of an organisation’s knowledge is embedded and synthesised in its employees’ minds. 

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But harnessing the power of this beast has become a significant challenge in modern enterprises. 

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Worry not! In this blog, we’ll share how unstructured knowledge can be managed using AI and save you huge costs. 

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The costs & challenges of unmanaged knowledge 

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The problem is not just that this knowledge is underutilised. It's also that it can be costly. Companies can lose millions of dollars each year due to inefficient knowledge sharing and onboarding. 

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For example, one survey found that a 3,000-employee business incurs an $8 million annual loss due to inefficient knowledge sharing and onboarding. The survey also found that:

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• 60% of respondents struggle to access vital job-related information from colleagues. 
• Employees, on average, waste 5.3 hours weekly waiting for coworker assistance. 
• Unshared knowledge causes project delays; 66% last up to a week, and 12% last a month or more. 
• Despite 2.5 months of formal training, new hires may take up to 6 months to fully adjust. They often spend around 3.5 months independently learning their roles, searching for information, and unintentionally duplicating work. 
• Almost 30% of employees feel undertrained, with half believing their organisations could benefit from offering more training resources and opportunities.

How to manage unstructured knowledge?

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‍There are a number of ways to manage unstructured knowledge, including: 

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Creating a knowledge repository 

A knowledge repository is a central location where all of an organisation's knowledge can be stored and managed. This can be a physical or virtual repository, such as a document management system or a wiki. 

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Using tagging and categorisation 

Tagging and categorisation can help employees find the information they need more quickly. Tags can be used to identify the topic of a document, while categories can be used to group related documents together.

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Implementing a knowledge-sharing culture 

A knowledge-sharing culture encourages employees to share their knowledge with others. This can be done through informal channels, or through more formal channels, such as Slack. 

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Using technology 

There are a number of technology solutions that can help organisations manage unstructured knowledge, such as Confluence. These solutions can automate tasks, such as tagging and categorisation, and they can make it easier for employees to find the information they need.

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Key benefits of AI-driven knowledge management 

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The advent of artificial intelligence (AI) offers a promising solution to the challenge of managing unstructured knowledge. AI-powered solutions can effectively extract, classify, and analyse vast amounts of data, transforming it into actionable insights that drive organisational success. 

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• Automatically extract and classify information: AI can automatically extract information from documents and other sources, and it can classify this information into concepts. This can help employees find the information they need more easily. 
• Answer questions in natural language processing (NLP): AI can answer questions in natural language, which can make it easier for employees and customers to get the information they need without having to search through documents or other sources. This will significantly improve employee productivity and deliver exceptional customer experiences. 
• Gain insights: AI can generate insights from data, which can help organisations make better decisions. 

Have you seen that generative AI models, such as ChatGPT, can be trained on your company's knowledge to answer questions about company policies or procedures, or to provide customer support? They are even being used to generate personalised content for employees, customers and partners. 

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In fact, you may have already interacted with an AI assistant without realising it.

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The evolution of knowledge management with AI 

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The future of knowledge management is illuminated by AI's evolution. As AI matures, its potential to manage unstructured knowledge grows, liberating employees to focus on strategic endeavours. This evolution promises improved decision-making, streamlined customer service, accelerated innovation, and amplified revenue generation. 

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Organisations today are witnessing the dawn of a new era, where AI-driven knowledge management systems (or km systems) redefine efficiency, harnessing the power of relevant knowledge to shape highly significant impacts across industries. Embracing this evolution enables organisations to meet and exceed customer expectations, leveraging insights and innovations driven by AI and machine learning. 

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The road ahead is bright, illuminating the path toward a future where the management of knowledge is no longer a burden but a strategic advantage, where the synergy between human intelligence and AI augments organisational capabilities, creating a landscape ripe with possibilities.