croissantHow to prepare your business knowledge for an AI agent
Organise approved answers, current documents, and ownership so an agent has dependable information to work from.
An AI agent cannot reliably follow a policy that exists only in someone’s head. Preparing the information is often the most important part of the project. Start with the questions the workflow must answer and the documents people already consult to answer them.
Choose authoritative sources
For each important topic, identify the source the team considers current. Remove or clearly label conflicting drafts. Record who owns the information and how changes reach the agent. A large collection of documents is less useful than a smaller set with clear authority.
Write for retrieval and decisions
Use clear headings, explicit definitions, and direct answers. Keep a rule beside its exceptions and include when it applies. Avoid relying on a diagram or image as the only explanation of a policy. Give the agent a defined response when the information is missing or inconsistent.
Example: approved answers for an enquiry agent
Create a short source describing what your business offers, how enquiries are handled, and which questions need a person. Keep proposed services separate from services you are ready to discuss. When the offer changes, update the authoritative source and test a few typical questions again. The agent should never convert an internal brainstorm into a public promise just because both documents were present in the same knowledge folder.
Test with real questions
Collect the questions people actually ask, including incomplete and ambiguous versions. Check whether the agent finds the right source and whether that source supports the answer. Update the knowledge when the business changes; do not assume the initial preparation is a one-time job.
A reality check before you hit run
Anthropic treats selecting relevant context as an engineering problem. A large folder alone is not a knowledge strategy. [1]
OWASP warns that retrieved text can contain instructions that redirect an agent. Treat documents as evidence, not authority to act. [2]
Implementation checklist
- Identify current sources and their owners.
- Separate approved material from drafts.
- Keep exceptions next to the rules they qualify.
- Test missing information as well as known answers.
The sources behind the sauce.
Primary research and official documentation behind the cited points. The workflow examples and checklists are Croissant’s own guidance.