Our last session, Inside the Minds of Generative AI, was the most popular yet. So we followed that up with this 201-level class, including a deeper dive into LLMs and an overview of Vector Databases, Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG), and more.
Category: Professional

What exactly is generative AI, how does it actually work, is it truly intelligent, why does it hallucinate, and how can businesses use this technology? In this KM Best Practices session, some of the best minds in the space address these and many other questions while exploring the good, the bad, and the ugly use cases of ChatGPT-like technologies. Whether you are an AI enthusiast or a business leader looking to stay ahead of the curve, this session provides valuable insights into one of the most exciting developments in the world of AI.

John Ragsdale is a distinguished researcher and the vice president of technology ecosystems for TSIA. He recently shared a wealth of knowledge with me, including how he started in support and KM, why vendors aren’t finding success with support improvements, how the move to cloud/SaaS has negatively impacted certain support practices, how customer support can help an organization weather the upcoming economic headwinds, his findings and thoughts about technical debt, how culture can kill any KM program, how support can get a seat at the executive leadership table, and more.
I had the pleasure of catching up with David Kay to celebrate the 20th anniversary of his consulting firm, DB Kay & Associations. We had fun discussing a wide variety of topics, including what exactly is KCS, how the evolve loop of KCS works, measuring and improving case deflection, and intelligent swarming.

Many consider John Chmaj to be one of the “fathers of Knowledge-Centered Support.” In my interview with him, you’ll see his copy of the first draft of KCS (now called “Knowledge-Centered Service”), learn some great historical context about knowledge management, and hear John’s predictions about the future of KM.

Knowledge practitioners share the worst decisions they’ve ever made in Knowledge Management so that you can learn from our mistakes!

In this recording of the April 19th KM Best Practices group meeting, you can hear from:
- Laurel Poertner, Director of Knowledge Services at F5 and former KM leader at Coveo, Irrevo, Aptean, and Knova.
- Libby Healy, Knowledge Manager at Waters Corporation and former KM leader at Tyler Technologies and Athenahealth.
- John Ragsdale, Distinguished Researcher and VP of Technology Ecosystems at the Technology Services Industry Association (TSIA) and former Forrester analyst as well as former KM/CRM leader at Clarify, Nortel, and Answer Systems.
…share the knowledge management best practices that they have observed, created, and enacted that helped them mitigate the unique challenges presented by Covid-19, including the sudden shift to a remote workforce and the resulting effects of the “great resignation.”

In this recording of the January 19th KM Best Practices group meeting, you can hear Jeff Harling, Head of Global Self-Service at Zoom, Monique Cadena, Knowledge & Collaboration Leader at Akamai, and Christina Roosen, Sr. Community Program Manager at Akamai share their combined experience of 50+ years in knowledge management across other companies like Avaya, Comcast, Ring Central, Aspect Software, Zendesk, Quest Software, and Dell, including awards such as “KCS Innovator” and “JD Power & Associates Customer Excellence.”


Join leaders from Microsoft and NetApp to discuss a variety of best practices around knowledge management and customer support in this special web event facilitated by David Kay and Scott Bideau, both seasoned Knowledge-Centered Service (KCS) and KM experts.

What exactly is deflection, and how do we measure it? This is one of the most frequently asked questions I receive from clients.
There is overwhelming evidence that customers want to resolve their own issues via self-service, and doing so is far cheaper for the vendor than assisted service. This is one instance where customer satisfaction aligns perfectly with cost efficiency, meaning everyone from the CFO to the Chief Customer Officer to the customer themselves loves case deflection. If done correctly, that is.
But to measure something, you must first define it. So, let’s look at what constitutes a good deflection event and how success is measured.