AI Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) Basics for Everyday Work

Pre-requisite: Basic familiarity with AI and LLMs

Powerful AI solutions are no longer limited to technical teams. In this fast-paced 90-minute workshop, participants explore the fundamentals of Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) and how it enables AI to answer questions using your own documents instead of the public internet. The session focuses on practical, easy-to-understand concepts: how RAG works, why it improves accuracy, how AI retrieves information from documents, and how to create a simple RAG-style assistant using tools like ChatGPT -- without writing a single line of code.

Participants will have the opportunity to see how private, document-grounded AI assistants can support everyday business tasks such as internal knowledge search, HR support, onboarding, and sales enablement.

Learners will have the opportunity to:
1. Practice explaining the 4-step RAG workflow and its business value
2. Explore how AI can answer questions using your organization's documents
3. Experiment with creating a basic RAG-style assistant in ChatGPT
4. Explore practical use cases for private, document-grounded AI in everyday work
 

Topics
The RAG Blueprint for Business
- Why general AI sometimes produces inaccurate or fabricated responses
- How RAG improves accuracy by using your documents
- The simple 4-step flow: Ask, Retrieve, Use, Answer

How AI Uses Your Documents
- How AI reads PDFs, Word files, and text documents
- Why breaking long documents into smaller sections improves clarity
- How AI organizes information behind the scenes

Creating a Simple RAG-Style Assistant in ChatGPT
- What a private document assistant can and cannot do
- How to give the assistant rules, such as: use only uploaded documents; if the answer is not in the documents, say so

RAG Demo
- Build a basic custom application using uploaded documents
- Test it with real questions

Pre-requisite: Basic familiarity with AI and LLMs