From Knowledge Retrieval to Execution: Designing Executable Knowledge Systems
Generative AI is changing the role of knowledge in organisations. Traditional knowledge management (KM) systems have primarily supported storage, access and retrieval, assuming that knowledge is interpreted and applied by human users. In AI-enabled environments, however, organisational knowledge increasingly becomes a direct input into execution, shaping generated proposals, analyses, summaries, recommendations and other workflow outputs. This shift exposes a limitation of retrieval-oriented KM: fragmented, outdated or weakly governed knowledge can be amplified through AI-generated outputs, reducing consistency, reliability and trust. This paper introduces executable knowledge systems as a conceptual model for structuring organisational knowledge to support reliable human and AI-assisted execution. The term executable is used in a socio-technical sense. Knowledge does not necessarily become code, but is curated, validated and embedded into workflows so that it can guide outputs, decisions and actions. The paper distinguishes this concept from prior work on executable knowledge graphs and executable knowledge bases, which primarily focus on deterministic execution through rules, scripts or formalised representations. The paper further develops a framework of decay and compounding loops to explain how AI-enabled knowledge systems evolve over time. In decay loops, AI-generated outputs re-enter the knowledge environment without sufficient validation, allowing inconsistency and low-quality knowledge to accumulate. In compounding loops, curated knowledge assets are refined through governed feedback, domain ownership and controlled reuse, enabling improvements in reliability over time. The framework is informed by an exploratory case study within a global professional services organisation, where a curated knowledge environment was introduced to support AI-assisted workflows in the Retail, Consumer Products, Travel and Transportation domain. The evaluation compared outputs generated from a controlled, subject matter expert (SME)-validated knowledge dataset with outputs generated from an unconstrained organisational knowledge base. Findings indicate improved retrieval relevance and output quality when AI systems operate on validated knowledge assets. The paper contributes to KM research by reframing KM as a system design challenge for AI-enabled execution and by positioning governance, validation and feedback control as central mechanisms for reliable organisational knowledge use.