From Knowledge to Value: Rethinking Knowledge Management Principles for an AI-Powered World · Issue 8.3, Summer 2026
Column Editor’s Note: The renewed interest in knowledge management reflects an important shift in how organizations think about the role of generative AI in creating value from information. Rather than assuming that broader access to more content will automatically improve performance, this article argues that successful knowledge management begins with clearly defined business problems and carefully designed knowledge flows. In this HDSR Active Industrial Learning column article, the authors revisit the long-standing distinction between knowledge stocks and knowledge flows and show why generative AI, despite its powerful capabilities, may amplify old access-first mistakes if it is not deployed with greater discipline. Through examples from SafeSide Prevention, CMS, PepsiCo, and Robinhood Markets, the article illustrates how targeted use cases, curated knowledge bases, retrieval-augmented generation, workflow integration, and human governance can turn organizational knowledge into meas