AI Agent Readiness

SME company knowledge base guide

A practical, fill-in framework for building your company knowledge base: the source of truth your employees, support teams, website and AI agents use to answer accurately and consistently.

Use this page as a master checklist: replace the samples with your own information, attach supporting files, assign an owner to each section, and review it regularly.

Start readiness assessment Prepare your knowledge

Fundamentals

Knowledge base principles

Use one authoritative answer for each recurring question.
Write in clear language and avoid unexplained internal jargon.
Separate public information from confidential internal information.
Include dates, owners, version numbers and source documents.
Remove outdated policies instead of leaving conflicting versions.
Structure information so both humans and AI can retrieve it easily.

Structure

Recommended structure

Fourteen sections covering everything your team and your AI agent need.

1. Company profile

Identity, background, locations, ownership, mission and company facts.

2. Products and services

What the company sells, features, pricing, limitations and use cases.

3. Customers and markets

Customer segments, industries, territories, languages and personas.

4. Sales knowledge

Lead qualification, sales process, proposals, discounts and objections.

5. Customer service

Support channels, SLAs, escalation, complaints and FAQs.

6. Operations and SOPs

Step-by-step internal procedures and recurring workflows.

7. Policies

Returns, refunds, privacy, warranties, cancellations and security.

8. People and organization

Departments, roles, responsibilities, contacts and escalation owners.

9. Technology and systems

Software, platforms, integrations, access rules and troubleshooting.

10. Finance and billing

Invoices, payment methods, billing cycles, taxes and approvals.

11. Legal and compliance

Registration, contracts, regulatory requirements and disclaimers.

12. Marketing and brand

Brand voice, messaging, approved claims, assets and campaigns.

13. AI agent instructions

What AI may answer, what it must not, handoff rules and trusted sources.

14. Document register

A catalog of source files, owners, review dates and versions.

Detail

What goes in each section

For each section: what to include, a worked example, and the questions your company should answer.

1Company profile

Include

Legal company name and trading name
Year founded and brief history
Headquarters and operating locations
Mission, vision and values
Ownership and management overview
Business hours and contact channels
Company registration identifiers where appropriate
Short company description approved for public use

Example

Acme Services Ltd. is a privately owned SME founded in 2021. It provides maintenance and facility support to small commercial clients, Monday–Friday, 08:00–18:00.

Questions for your company

What is the exact legal name?
What does the company do in one paragraph?
Where does it operate?
Which company facts are public vs internal?

2Products and services

Include

Product or service name
Plain-language description
Target customer
Features and deliverables
Price or pricing method
What is included and excluded
Dependencies and prerequisites
Typical delivery time
Warranty or service guarantee
Frequently asked questions and known limitations
Related products and upsell options

Example

Office Care Plan — monthly preventive maintenance for offices up to 500 m². Includes one scheduled inspection, minor adjustments and a written condition report. Emergency repairs and parts are billed separately.

Questions for your company

What exactly does the customer receive?
What is not included?
Who is it best suited for?
What do prospects ask before buying?

3Customers and markets

Include

Primary customer segments
Ideal customer profile
Industries served
Geographic coverage
Supported languages
Customer needs and pain points
Customer personas
Eligibility or exclusions

Example

Primary customers are offices, clinics, retail stores and small hospitality businesses with 5–100 employees.

Questions for your company

Who is the ideal customer?
Which customers should the company not serve?
Which locations and languages are supported?

4Sales knowledge

Include

Lead sources and qualification criteria
Sales stages and discovery questions
Proposal process and pricing rules
Discount approval rules
Common objections and approved responses
Competitor positioning
Contract and signature process
Sales handoff to operations

Example

Discounts above 10% require manager approval. Sales staff may not promise custom delivery dates until operations confirms capacity.

Questions for your company

What makes a lead qualified?
Who can approve discounts?
What promises must sales avoid?
What happens after a deal closes?

5Customer service and FAQs

Include

Support channels and hours
Expected response times and priority definitions
Identity verification rules
Ticket categories and troubleshooting guides
Complaint procedure and escalation matrix
Refund and cancellation questions
Top 20–50 customer FAQs

Example

Urgent service interruptions are escalated to the duty manager. Billing disputes are routed to Finance and should not be resolved by technical staff.

Questions for your company

What are the most common support questions?
When must an issue be escalated?
Who owns billing, technical and complaint cases?

6Operations and standard operating procedures

Include

Order fulfillment and service delivery
Procurement and inventory
Quality control and scheduling
Opening and closing procedures
Supplier management
Incident reporting and business continuity
Approval workflows and checklists

Example

New service order: verify signed agreement → create customer record → confirm scope → assign owner → schedule delivery → perform QA → send completion notice → archive records.

Questions for your company

Which processes repeat every week?
What steps must never be skipped?
Which steps require approval or evidence?

7Company policies

Include

Refund, cancellation and return policies
Warranty policy
Privacy and data handling
Acceptable use and information security
Remote work and expense policy
Customer communication policy
Record retention

Example

Each policy article should include scope, rule, exceptions, approval authority, effective date and last review date.

Questions for your company

What rules affect customers?
What rules affect employees?
Which exceptions require management approval?

8People, roles and escalation

Include

Organization chart and department responsibilities
Role descriptions and decision rights
Internal and emergency contacts
Escalation owners and backup owners
Who can approve what

Example

Customer Support owns first-line inquiries. Operations owns service delivery. Finance owns invoices and payment disputes.

Questions for your company

Who owns each business function?
Who is the backup when the owner is unavailable?
What decisions can each role make?

9Technology and systems

Include

Systems used and the purpose of each
System owner and user access process
Integration map
Common errors and troubleshooting steps
Backup and recovery procedure
Security requirements and vendor support information

Example

CRM stores leads and customers. The accounting platform handles invoices and payments. The helpdesk handles support tickets. Passwords must never be stored in the knowledge base.

Questions for your company

What systems are business-critical?
Where is the official data stored?
Who grants access?
What should users do when a system fails?

10Finance, billing and payments

Include

Accepted payment methods and currencies
Invoice process and billing cycle
Payment terms and late-payment procedure
Refund approval
Tax and VAT handling
Expense and purchase approval
Bank and payment escalation contacts

Example

Standard invoices are due within 14 days unless the signed contract states otherwise. Any change to bank details must follow the company's verification procedure.

Questions for your company

How and when are customers billed?
Who may approve refunds?
What payment information may support staff share?

11Legal and compliance

Include

Legal entity details
Licenses and permits
Contract templates
Data protection obligations
Industry rules and required customer disclosures
Insurance and document retention
Approved legal disclaimers and compliance escalation

Example

The knowledge base should summarize legal rules for daily use but link to the approved contract or policy as the authoritative source.

Questions for your company

Which licenses or regulations apply?
Which questions require legal review?
Which document is the authoritative source?

12Marketing and brand knowledge

Include

Brand positioning and elevator pitch
Tone of voice
Approved product claims
Forbidden or unverified claims
Logo and brand rules
Audience segments and channels
Campaign calendar, case studies and press boilerplate

Example

Brand voice: professional, practical, helpful and concise. Avoid guarantees such as '100% problem-free' unless legally and operationally approved.

Questions for your company

How should the company describe itself?
Which claims are approved?
What tone should employees and AI use?

13AI agent and automation knowledge

Include

AI purpose and scope
Approved knowledge sources
Topics AI can answer
Topics AI must refuse or escalate
Human handoff triggers
Customer authentication requirements
PII and confidentiality rules
Action, tool and API permissions
Response style and language rules
Citation behavior, logging and review rules

Example

The AI may explain products, opening hours, policies and order procedures. It must escalate legal disputes, unusual refund requests, security incidents and any question where sources conflict.

Questions for your company

What can the AI answer autonomously?
What must always go to a human?
Which systems may the AI read or write?
Which data must never enter prompts?

14Document and source register

Include

Document title and category
Authoritative owner
Version, effective date and review date
Confidentiality level
Storage location or link
Superseded documents

Example

Every important knowledge article should point to a source document or a named owner. This prevents AI and employees from relying on outdated information.

Questions for your company

Who owns each source?
When was it last reviewed?
Is it public, internal, confidential or restricted?

Knowledge article template

Article title: How to request a refund
Category: Customer Service > Billing
Audience: Customer / Support / Internal / AI
Owner: Finance Manager
Status: Draft / Approved / Archived
Effective date: YYYY-MM-DD
Review date: YYYY-MM-DD
Summary: One or two sentences explaining the rule.
Procedure: Numbered, step-by-step instructions.
Exceptions: Cases where the standard rule does not apply.
Escalation: Who handles cases outside the standard procedure.
Source: Approved policy, contract, SOP or responsible owner.
Keywords: refund, reimbursement, payment, billing

Sample knowledge article

How to handle a customer cancellation

Give employees and AI assistants a consistent procedure for cancellation requests.

1Confirm the customer's identity and the relevant order or subscription.
2Check the applicable cancellation terms in the signed agreement or current policy.
3Explain any applicable deadline, fee or non-refundable amount.
4If the request fits the standard policy, process it through the approved workflow.
5If it falls outside the policy, do not promise an exception — escalate to the authorized manager.
6Record the outcome in the customer system.

AI rule: The AI may explain the standard cancellation policy but may not approve exceptions or invent refund amounts.

Governance checklist

Ownership: Every category has a named owner.
Accuracy: Information matches current policies and operations.
No conflicts: Duplicate or contradictory articles are removed.
Freshness: High-risk content has a defined review cycle.
Permissions: Confidential content is access-controlled.
Searchability: Titles and keywords match the words users actually search.
AI readiness: Articles are explicit about rules, exceptions and escalation.
Source of truth: Each critical article points to an approved source or owner.
Change control: Major updates are dated and communicated.
Archive discipline: Old versions are archived and clearly marked as superseded.

Suggested review frequency

Prices, offers, opening hours: Monthly or whenever changed
Customer policies and FAQs: Quarterly
SOPs and operational workflows: Quarterly
Legal and compliance information: At least annually and whenever regulations change
Employee and role information: Whenever staffing or responsibilities change
AI instructions and escalation rules: Monthly during early deployment; quarterly once stable

Start small

Minimum viable knowledge base

A small company does not need hundreds of articles on day one — this is a strong start.

One company profile
A complete product and service catalog
20–50 frequently asked customer questions
5–15 core operating procedures
All customer-facing policies
Sales and pricing rules
Support and escalation rules
Organization and role ownership
Billing and payment procedures
AI scope and human-handoff rules, if AI is used
A document register identifying authoritative sources

Final readiness test

Before using the knowledge base to train staff or ground an AI agent, select 25 real questions from customers and employees. Someone unfamiliar with the company should find a clear, current, authoritative answer for each one without guessing. Any question that cannot be answered becomes a knowledge gap to fill.

Assess your company