In many organisations, knowledge workers spend a considerable share of their time searching for information. Documents are reviewed, versions compared, relevant sections manually extracted. AI-powered search solutions promise efficiency gains, improved information quality and noticeable relief for employees.
In practice, however, “AI search” often means uploading documents into a large language model, such as ChatGPT, and analysing them through prompts. While this may work in isolated use cases, it quickly reaches its limits in enterprise environments – particularly where sensitive data, regulatory requirements or complex permission structures are involved.
The real issue is not just how quickly an answer can be generated. The more relevant questions are:
- Which data sources were considered?
- Is the information scope clearly defined?
- Are data protection requirements respected?
- Does the organisation retain control over how its data is used?
Without clearly defined information boundaries, a black box emerges – technically powerful, yet difficult to trace in terms of its underlying data and reasoning.
A hybrid approach addresses this exact challenge. It follows a straightforward principle: first define the relevant information context in a structured way through scoped data spaces, filtering mechanisms or targeted document selection. Only within this controlled context do different AI methods, including large language models, analyse information and support decision-making.
In this way, the information architecture remains in control – not the model.
In highly regulated environments, it becomes evident that AI models alone are not a sustainable solution. What matters is their integration into clearly defined system architectures and existing governance frameworks.
Swiss solution providers such as Karakun implement such hybrid approaches using platforms like HIBU. The objective is to combine efficiency gains through AI with digital sovereignty and strong data governance.
Ultimately, hybrid search is not about the model being used, but about architectural design.