Organisations with strong knowledge management foundations report significantly better AI outcomes
Hiring Your First Knowledge Manager in the AI Era: A Strategic Guide
Many organisations looking to leverage AI within their internal knowledge realize they need a professional to own their internal corpus of knowledge and begin looking for a knowledge manager. We've put together these thoughts based on research from KIMRA Conference and experience with clients implementing KM in the AI era.
Why Knowledge Managers Are Essential for AI Success
Research from KIMRA Conference shows 100% of knowledge professionals now use AI tools, yet most organisations lack the governance and strategic approach needed to capture value. Knowledge managers are vital members of multidisciplinary teams working to maximize AI program success.
Businesses hoping to productize their expertise need robust governance around definitions, privacy, copyright, and intellectual property, as well as organisational behaviour change to adapt to AI possibilities. KM professionals serve as key educators on when and when not to use AI, keeping expectations grounded in reality while positioning themselves as enablers of the technology.
Three Core Principles for Hiring Your First Knowledge Manager
1. Provide Proper Support
Position the role with appropriate status as well as executive sponsorship. Hire professionals with proven KM project delivery experience who prioritise people and process expertise over purely technical backgrounds. Organisations that lack proper executive sponsorship struggle to achieve meaningful adoption.
2. Focus on KM Fundamentals Enhanced by AI Literacy
Prioritize core KM expertise: information architecture, stakeholder engagement, and change management. Add AI literacy: understanding capabilities/limitations, human-AI collaboration, and critical evaluation of outputs. Enterprises cannot effectively leverage AI without proper knowledge management foundations.
3. Start with Specific Use Cases
Begin with measurable knowledge management challenges rather than broad AI strategies. Establish clear success criteria and resist scope creep. Focus on demonstrating value through practical improvements to knowledge access and sharing.
Key Implementation Considerations
Governance Foundation: Your first knowledge manager must establish frameworks for cross-functional collaboration, decision-making authority, measurement, and risk management protocols for AI-generated content.
Skills Development: Research from KIMRA Conference shows firms rate their AI knowledge at 5.5 out of 10. Plan for ongoing skill development while prioritizing strong KM fundamentals.
Avoiding Pitfalls: Don't invest in tools before hiring expertise. Maintain realistic scope and focus on change management, not just technical implementation.
The AI revolution has amplified the importance of knowledge management fundamentals. Organisations that recognize this and hire accordingly will build sustainable competitive advantages through better knowledge leverage and AI integration.
CB Resourcing are the leading experts in hiring knowledge management talent with decades of experience working with the works leading organisations. We work with top management consultancies, law firms, private equity, investment banks and a wide range of other industries. Contact us if you have a requirement you'd like to discuss.
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