Playbook: migrate from generic chat to RAG

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Diagnose what the current chat solves and what it invents

Before migrating, observe real conversations: where the chat helps, where it improvises, and which questions require evidence. Without that baseline, the project will change architecture without fixing the trust failure that triggered the migration.

Trim domains and prepare the corpus by use case

Do not connect the whole company at once. Pick one small domain, remove duplicates, mark owners, and prepare enough metadata so retrieval can distinguish current policy, old note, and draft.

Start with a flow that has stable documents and frequent users.
Remove decorative files that only add semantic noise.
Define from the start which documents must never be cited.

Change the response experience, not only the backend

Users should notice that something changed: visible citations, bounded confidence, partial answers when evidence is missing, and easy access to the source document. If the interface still rewards verbal certainty, RAG will feel like the same chat under a new label.

Redesign evaluation and support

The criterion is no longer only 'sounds useful'. Retrieval precision, citation clarity, permission compliance, and human handoff rate now matter. The operation also needs a short path to report dubious answers and correct the corpus.

Migrate in stages with explicit comparison

For a short period, compare the legacy chat and the RAG flow on the same questions. That comparison reveals where the new system improves, where it loses speed, and which questions still do not deserve document retrieval.

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Playbook: migrate from generic chat to RAG

Diagnose what the current chat solves and what it invents

Trim domains and prepare the corpus by use case

Change the response experience, not only the backend

Redesign evaluation and support

Migrate in stages with explicit comparison

Unlock the full article

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