Building Company Memory as a control layer

Most Company Memory implementations start with a vector store and end with retrieval that lacks citations, freshness, and permissions. This article walks through the four decisions that turn retrieval into a control layer.

1. Source authority is the starting point

Company Memory is not the source of truth. It is a layer above the source of truth. Before any retrieval happens, you need a canonical source registry that lists every source, its permissions, its freshness policy, and its owner.

2. Citations are not optional

Every answer must cite at least one source. The citation is the contract between the agent and the user. Without citations, retrieval is just plausible text.

3. Freshness beats vector quality

A slightly less accurate model with up-to-date sources is better than a more accurate model with stale sources. Track freshness per source and per document.

4. Permissions are inherited

An agent cannot retrieve a document its user would not be allowed to read in the source system. Permissions are inherited, not bolted on.

Closing

A well-built Company Memory is a control surface, not a database. It is the place where source authority, permissions, citations, and freshness live.

What we will cover in the next article: how to build the agent workspace on top of Company Memory without leaking permissions or producing unverifiable answers.