DALE - Dale Answers Literally Everything (eventually..)

Executive Summary

DALE is an AI-powered knowledge base system that enables teams to quickly answer vendor/supplier form questions using company-approved information. The system uses RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation) via OpenRouter to provide accurate, cited answers while maintaining clear boundaries about what it knows and doesn't know.

Product Vision

Mission: Reduce time spent answering repetitive vendor forms from hours to minutes while ensuring accuracy and compliance.

Success Metrics:

• 80% reduction in time to complete vendor forms
• 90%+ answer accuracy (validated by users)
• 100% source citation for compliance
• Clear knowledge gap identification for continuous improvement

Core Design Principles

1. Modular by Design

Every component should be replaceable without affecting others. No tight coupling.

2. Data First

The data structure is the foundation. Get it right, and features become easy to add.

3. Progressive Enhancement

Start simple, add complexity only when proven necessary.

4. Team Autonomy

Teams should be able to manage their own knowledge bases independently.

5. Explicit Over Implicit

When the system doesn't know something, it says so clearly and routes appropriately.

6. Internal Simplicity

All features remain internally managed - no self-service complexity for end users.