Eight questions for any knowledge platform.
Was your first AI attempt a disappointment? It was rarely the model — usually it was questions nobody asked before buying.
Ask every provider these eight questions, including us. Each one says what a good answer looks like.
This checklist contains eight questions every knowledge platform should answer: where the model runs, who sees what, where an answer comes from and what leaving costs. For each question it says what a good answer looks like, and below it Explicio's answer.
Where the knowledge lives — and where it comes from.
- 01Where does the language model run when a question is asked — and where does it fall back to if it fails?Why it matters: A fallback to someone else's cloud is often only in the small print.Good answer: A region that is never left — not under load and not in an outage.
Explicio's answer
In the EU cloud on hardware we operate, or on the Explicio Box on your own premises. For tenants in the EU the region is never left; if the model on the Box fails, the Box does not answer rather than fall back to a cloud.
- 02Who sees what — and does the permission check cost extra?Why it matters: Permissions that only arrive at rollout or sit in a pricier tier stop most projects.Good answer: Permissions in every tier, enforced on every query, not only in the interface.
Explicio's answer
Permissions apply in every tier and on every query. An account can use the platform without reading company knowledge — for external staff or working students, for example.
- 03What happens to knowledge that is in no document?Why it matters: Most tools only find what is already written down — the most expensive knowledge is written nowhere.Good answer: The system actively asks and records what a person says.
Explicio's answer
Explicio asks when something is missing — by messenger, voice message or photo — and remembers a refusal instead of asking again.
- 04Where does an answer come from — which document, which person, which point in time?Why it matters: Nobody can check an answer without provenance — not in the audit and not at the machine.Good answer: The source for every answer; for spoken knowledge also who said it and when.
Explicio's answer
Every answer names its source down to person and time; what is confirmed is marked as confirmed.
What happens to contradictions, people and your money.
- 05What does the system show when two sources contradict each other?Why it matters: A system that simply takes the most likely passage hides the contradiction.Good answer: Name both sources instead of guessing one.
Explicio's answer
Explicio names both sources and makes the contradiction visible instead of guessing one.
- 06Does the system evaluate who knows or asks how much?Why it matters: Evaluations per person turn a knowledge tool into a monitoring tool — and rightly bring in the works council.Good answer: No rankings of people, figures only in aggregate.
Explicio's answer
No. Explicio does not assess people and builds no rankings; usage figures exist only as totals per role.
- 07How do you get everything out again — in which format, at what cost?Why it matters: An exit that is not in the contract is a lock-in.Good answer: A complete export, promised in the contract, at no extra cost.
Explicio's answer
The full export is in the terms: knowledge graph with sources, conversations and media, up to four times a year and at the end of the contract free of charge.
- 08What are you billed for — and does the price grow with every head?Why it matters: Per-seat prices turn every additional colleague into a cost question — and keep the knowledge small.Good answer: An open price that grows with the benefit, and a bill you can follow in advance.
Explicio's answer
You pay for contributed knowledge, not for the number of users; prices and calculator are open on the pricing page.
Contribute knowledge first. Then decide.
After a short conversation we set up your trial space. Then contribute a voice message or a file from your business — and see where the first knowledge island lies. The 30 days only start after that.
- Duration
- 30 days from the first knowledge
- Cost
- €0
- Licence
- none — you pay for knowledge, not for seats
- Data location
- EU cloud on hardware operated by Explicio in Germany; Explicio Box in your own building on request