AI & Tech Glossary
Deciphering the language of innovation. A comprehensive guide to the terms shaping the future of business.
AI
Agentic AI
Agentic AI describes AI systems that pursue a goal across multiple steps instead of answering a sing...
Read Definition →AI Agent
An AI agent is software that uses a large language model to work toward a goal by deciding which act...
Read Definition →Custom AI Agents
Custom AI agents are AI agents built for one organization's specific processes, systems and rules, r...
Read Definition →Multi-Agent System
A multi-agent system is an AI application in which several specialized agents work together on a tas...
Read Definition →LLM (Large Language Model)
A large language model (LLM) is a neural network trained on very large amounts of text to predict th...
Read Definition →RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation)
Retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) is a technique where an AI system first searches a set of trust...
Read Definition →Tool Calling (Function Calling)
Tool calling, also called function calling, is a language model capability in which the model respon...
Read Definition →MCP (Model Context Protocol)
The Model Context Protocol (MCP) is an open standard, introduced by Anthropic in 2024 and donated to...
Read Definition →Structured Outputs
Structured outputs are model responses constrained to a defined format, usually a JSON schema with n...
Read Definition →Prompt Engineering
Prompt engineering is the practice of designing the instructions, context and examples given to a la...
Read Definition →System Prompt
A system prompt is the set of standing instructions an application gives a language model before any...
Read Definition →Context Window
A context window is the maximum amount of text, measured in tokens, that a language model can proces...
Read Definition →Token
A token is the unit of text a language model reads and writes, usually a word, part of a word or a p...
Read Definition →Embeddings
Embeddings are lists of numbers (vectors) that represent the meaning of a piece of text, an image or...
Read Definition →Vector Database
A vector database stores embeddings alongside the original content and its metadata, and quickly fin...
Read Definition →Chunking
Chunking is the step in building a retrieval system where long documents are split into smaller pass...
Read Definition →Knowledge Base
A knowledge base is an organized collection of information a business uses to answer questions and d...
Read Definition →Hallucination
A hallucination is output from an AI model that is fluent and confident but false or unsupported, su...
Read Definition →Grounding
Grounding is the practice of tying an AI model's output to specific, verifiable sources, such as ret...
Read Definition →Guardrails
Guardrails are the controls placed around an AI system to keep its inputs, outputs and actions withi...
Read Definition →Prompt Injection
Prompt injection is an attack in which text supplied to an AI system, either typed by a user or hidd...
Read Definition →Evaluation (Evals)
Evaluations, or evals, are repeatable tests that measure how well an AI system performs a task, usin...
Read Definition →Human in the Loop
Human in the loop is a design pattern where a person reviews, approves or corrects an AI system's ou...
Read Definition →Fine-Tuning
Fine-tuning is the process of further training an existing language model on a set of example inputs...
Read Definition →Inference
Inference is the process of running a trained AI model to produce an output, such as generating a re...
Read Definition →Latency
Latency is the time between sending a request and receiving a response. In AI systems it includes ne...
Read Definition →Model Routing
Model routing is the practice of sending each AI request to the most suitable model based on task di...
Read Definition →Prompt Caching
Prompt caching is a feature offered by some model providers that stores the processed form of a repe...
Read Definition →Chatbot
A chatbot is software that holds a text conversation with users, typically on a website, in an app o...
Read Definition →Voice AI Agent
A voice AI agent is an AI system that holds spoken conversations, usually over the phone, to answer ...
Read Definition →Speech-to-Text (STT)
Speech-to-text (STT), also called automatic speech recognition, is technology that converts spoken a...
Read Definition →Text-to-Speech (TTS)
Text-to-speech (TTS) is technology that converts written text into spoken audio. Modern neural TTS p...
Read Definition →OCR (Optical Character Recognition)
Optical character recognition (OCR) is technology that converts images of text, such as scanned docu...
Read Definition →Automation
Business Process Automation (BPA)
Business process automation (BPA) is the use of software to run a multi-step business process with l...
Read Definition →Workflow Automation
Workflow automation is the use of software to run a sequence of tasks automatically when a trigger o...
Read Definition →n8n
n8n is a workflow automation platform that connects apps, APIs and databases through a visual, node-...
Read Definition →iPaaS (Integration Platform as a Service)
An integration platform as a service (iPaaS) is a cloud platform for connecting applications and dat...
Read Definition →Webhook
A webhook is an automated HTTP request that one application sends to a URL you specify when a partic...
Read Definition →RPA (Robotic Process Automation)
Robotic process automation (RPA) is software that automates tasks by mimicking how a person uses app...
Read Definition →Intelligent Document Processing (IDP)
Intelligent document processing (IDP) is the automated capture, classification and extraction of dat...
Read Definition →ETL (Extract, Transform, Load)
ETL (extract, transform, load) is a data integration process that pulls data from source systems, cl...
Read Definition →Development
API (Application Programming Interface)
An application programming interface (API) is a defined way for one piece of software to request dat...
Read Definition →OAuth
OAuth is an open authorization standard, now mostly used in its OAuth 2.0 form, that lets a user gra...
Read Definition →Rate Limiting
Rate limiting is a control that caps how many requests a client can make to an API within a period o...
Read Definition →Idempotency
Idempotency is the property of an operation that produces the same result whether it runs once or se...
Read Definition →Observability
Observability is the ability to understand what a software system is doing from the data it emits, s...
Read Definition →Self-Hosting
Self-hosting means running software on infrastructure you control, such as your own servers or a pri...
Read Definition →MVP (Minimum Viable Product)
A minimum viable product (MVP) is the smallest version of a product that real users can use to get i...
Read Definition →React Native
React Native is an open-source framework, created at Meta (then Facebook) and now owned by the indep...
Read Definition →Next.js
Next.js is an open-source React framework, maintained by Vercel, for building websites and web appli...
Read Definition →Strategy
Generative AI Strategy
A generative AI strategy is a company's plan for where and how it will use generative AI, such as la...
Read Definition →Digital Transformation
Digital transformation is the process of changing how a business operates and serves customers by re...
Read Definition →AI Governance
AI governance is the set of policies, roles and processes an organization uses to decide how AI may ...
Read Definition →AI Readiness Assessment
An AI readiness assessment is a structured review of how prepared an organization is to adopt AI, co...
Read Definition →Proof of Concept (POC)
A proof of concept (POC) is a small, time-boxed project that tests whether a specific technical appr...
Read Definition →AI TCO (Total Cost of Ownership)
AI total cost of ownership (TCO) is the full cost of an AI system over its useful life, not just the...
Read Definition →Data Residency
Data residency refers to the geographic location where data is stored and processed, and to requirem...
Read Definition →BAA (Business Associate Agreement)
A Business Associate Agreement (BAA) is a contract required under HIPAA between a covered entity, su...
Read Definition →Zero Data Retention (ZDR)
Zero data retention (ZDR) is an arrangement with an AI model provider under which prompts and output...
Read Definition →Fractional AI Officer
A fractional AI officer is an experienced AI leader who works part-time for a company, often on a mo...
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