---
title: "AI knowledge for business leaders | Carl-Uwe Würfel"
description: "AI knowledge for executives and operators: three reading paths, topic pages on roadmap, governance and the AI Act, notes since 2023 and an AI glossary."
url: https://carl-wuerfel.de/en/knowledge
author: Carl-Uwe Würfel
---

1. [Home](https://carl-wuerfel.de/en)
  2. Knowledge

# Knowledge

What I learned and decided while running an AI transformation, sorted by job: topic pages with a position and sources, notes since 2023 and an AI glossary.

`/`

No match. Try another spelling or a German term.

## Start here

Three routes through the site, depending on your job. Five stops each.

### You run a company

Owners, executives, boards: where AI starts, what it costs, who owns it.

  1. [Topic pageMid-market AI: workflows before tools](https://carl-wuerfel.de/en/ai-mid-market)
  2. [NoteAI adoption: stop treating it as an experiment](https://carl-wuerfel.de/en/notes/ai-is-no-longer-an-experiment)
  3. [Topic pageAI roadmap: foundation first, then the first use case](https://carl-wuerfel.de/en/ai-roadmap)
  4. [NoteMeasuring AI ROI: time saved isn't money saved](https://carl-wuerfel.de/en/notes/ai-roi-in-an-agency)
  5. [Topic pageChief AI Officer: the role doesn't belong in IT](https://carl-wuerfel.de/en/chief-ai-officer)

### You run the operation

Process and IT owners: how AI runs day to day, gets checked and gets switched off.

  1. [Topic pageThe transformation: four layers and one run](https://carl-wuerfel.de/en/transformation)
  2. [Topic pageAI automation: only as much leeway as you can check](https://carl-wuerfel.de/en/ai-automation)
  3. [NoteAI cost management: know the cost per call or fly blind](https://carl-wuerfel.de/en/notes/controlling-ai-api-costs)
  4. [NoteAI quality assurance: a glance is not a review](https://carl-wuerfel.de/en/notes/quality-control-for-ai-output)
  5. [NoteShutting down an AI system: keeping it is a decision too](https://carl-wuerfel.de/en/notes/when-we-switch-off-an-ai-system)

### You set the rules

Governance, law, knowledge: what gets checked before approval and what the law requires.

  1. [Topic pageAI governance: the policy is the smallest part](https://carl-wuerfel.de/en/ai-governance)
  2. [Topic pageEU AI Act for mid-sized firms: training and approval first](https://carl-wuerfel.de/en/ai-act)
  3. [GlossaryShadow AI](https://carl-wuerfel.de/en/glossary/schatten-ki)
  4. [Topic pageAI knowledge management: AI can't search someone's head](https://carl-wuerfel.de/en/ai-knowledge-management)
  5. [NoteAI change management: your team is rarely the problem](https://carl-wuerfel.de/en/notes/leading-a-team-through-ai-transformation)

## Topic pages

One page per topic, with a position, the reasoning and sources.

  * [**Chief AI Officer: the role doesn 't belong in IT**A Chief AI Officer at a mid-market company needs the authority to change roles and workflows, or the job is software admin. Scope, limits and four checks.](https://carl-wuerfel.de/en/chief-ai-officer)
  * [**Mid-market AI: workflows before tools** Mid-market AI starts with workflows. A subscription for everyone barely changes the work. Three questions to start, one shared foundation, cost per call.](https://carl-wuerfel.de/en/ai-mid-market)
  * [**AI roadmap: foundation first, then the first use case** An AI roadmap for business starts with a shared foundation, then use cases. Three questions set the order, five fields per project, one date to end it.](https://carl-wuerfel.de/en/ai-roadmap)
  * [**AI automation: only as much leeway as you can check** AI automation should get only as much leeway as you can check. Five rules and six questions show whether a workflow can run without a human sign-off.](https://carl-wuerfel.de/en/ai-automation)
  * [**EU AI Act for mid-sized firms: training and approval first** The EU AI Act for mid-sized firms: AI literacy and transparency already apply, high-risk duties from December 2027. What deployers do now. As of November 2026.](https://carl-wuerfel.de/en/ai-act)
  * [**Measuring AI visibility: the source pool decides** Measuring AI visibility starts with the source pool: for CRM, German content got no citations, for insurance it did. A twenty-minute GEO test and its limits.](https://carl-wuerfel.de/en/geo)
  * [**AI governance: the policy is the smallest part** AI governance for mid-sized companies: the policy fits on one page. What works is access, permissions, cost per call and sign-off built into the workflow.](https://carl-wuerfel.de/en/ai-governance)
  * [**AI knowledge management: AI can 't search someone's head**AI knowledge management starts with what's in people's heads and spreadsheets. Three questions show where to start; permissions and upkeep keep answers right.](https://carl-wuerfel.de/en/ai-knowledge-management)
  * [**The transformation: four layers and one run** How the change is built: ways of working, roles, services, rules, plus a sample run through every checkpoint.](https://carl-wuerfel.de/en/transformation)

## Recently revised

  * [**AI answers by language: the market in the query decides** November 5, 2026In global categories, naming the market pulls in local sources for AI search, the language doesn't. What 15 Perplexity queries showed, plus a 20-minute check.](https://carl-wuerfel.de/en/notes/ai-visibility-by-language-market)
  * [**Shutting down an AI system: keeping it is a decision too** November 5, 2026Shut down an AI system when usage, quality, upkeep or a better alternative say so. Four checks for every live system, and a shutdown order that strands nothing.](https://carl-wuerfel.de/en/notes/when-we-switch-off-an-ai-system)
  * [**Running AI: catch failures, respond under control** November 5, 2026You only catch AI failures if you check availability, output format and business quality separately. Responding under control means putting a limit on retries.](https://carl-wuerfel.de/en/notes/self-healing-ai-systems)
  * [**AI cost management: know the cost per call or fly blind** November 5, 2026Your AI provider's invoice won't tell you which workflow is spending the money. How to track AI costs per call, budget each app and weigh cost against value.](https://carl-wuerfel.de/en/notes/controlling-ai-api-costs)
  * [**AI quality assurance: a glance is not a review** November 5, 2026Check AI output in three separate passes: format, source, expert judgment. The sender stays responsible. With a review table and a rule for model switches.](https://carl-wuerfel.de/en/notes/quality-control-for-ai-output)
  * [**llms.txt: an overview with clear limits** November 5, 2026An llms.txt links a site's key pages with short descriptions for AI systems. It helps them find their way around, but it does not guarantee any citations.](https://carl-wuerfel.de/en/notes/setting-up-llms-txt)

[All notes since 2023](https://carl-wuerfel.de/en/notes)

## AI glossary by theme

### Foundations

  * [Artificial intelligence (AI)](https://carl-wuerfel.de/en/glossary/kuenstliche-intelligenz)
  * [Chatbot](https://carl-wuerfel.de/en/glossary/chatbot)
  * [Generative AI](https://carl-wuerfel.de/en/glossary/generative-ki)
  * [Machine learning](https://carl-wuerfel.de/en/glossary/machine-learning)

### Models & technology

  * [Chain of thought (CoT)](https://carl-wuerfel.de/en/glossary/chain-of-thought)
  * [Context Window](https://carl-wuerfel.de/en/glossary/context-window)
  * [Deep learning](https://carl-wuerfel.de/en/glossary/deep-learning)
  * [Embeddings](https://carl-wuerfel.de/en/glossary/embeddings)
  * [Fine-Tuning](https://carl-wuerfel.de/en/glossary/fine-tuning)
  * [Foundation model](https://carl-wuerfel.de/en/glossary/foundation-model)
  * [Grounding (AI)](https://carl-wuerfel.de/en/glossary/grounding)
  * [Hallucination](https://carl-wuerfel.de/en/glossary/hallucination)
  * [LLM gateway](https://carl-wuerfel.de/en/glossary/llm-gateway)
  * [LLM](https://carl-wuerfel.de/en/glossary/llm)
  * [LLMOps and MLOps](https://carl-wuerfel.de/en/glossary/llmops)
  * [Neural network](https://carl-wuerfel.de/en/glossary/neuronales-netz)
  * [Open-source and open-weight models](https://carl-wuerfel.de/en/glossary/open-source-llm)
  * [Semantic search](https://carl-wuerfel.de/en/glossary/semantische-suche)
  * [Small language model (SLM)](https://carl-wuerfel.de/en/glossary/small-language-model)
  * [Token](https://carl-wuerfel.de/en/glossary/token)
  * [Vector Database](https://carl-wuerfel.de/en/glossary/vector-database)

### Working with AI

  * [AI agents](https://carl-wuerfel.de/en/glossary/ki-agenten)
  * [AI assistant](https://carl-wuerfel.de/en/glossary/ki-assistent)
  * [AI guardrails](https://carl-wuerfel.de/en/glossary/guardrails)
  * [AI orchestration](https://carl-wuerfel.de/en/glossary/ki-orchestrierung)
  * [Context engineering](https://carl-wuerfel.de/en/glossary/context-engineering)
  * [Evals (LLM evaluation)](https://carl-wuerfel.de/en/glossary/evals)
  * [MCP](https://carl-wuerfel.de/en/glossary/mcp)
  * [Prompt Engineering](https://carl-wuerfel.de/en/glossary/prompt-engineering)
  * [Prompt injection](https://carl-wuerfel.de/en/glossary/prompt-injection)
  * [RAG](https://carl-wuerfel.de/en/glossary/rag)
  * [RPA](https://carl-wuerfel.de/en/glossary/rpa)
  * [System Prompt](https://carl-wuerfel.de/en/glossary/system-prompt)

### Leadership & law

  * [AI bias](https://carl-wuerfel.de/en/glossary/ki-bias)
  * [AI labeling and disclosure](https://carl-wuerfel.de/en/glossary/ki-kennzeichnung)
  * [AI ROI](https://carl-wuerfel.de/en/glossary/roi-ki)
  * [AI Transformation](https://carl-wuerfel.de/en/glossary/ki-transformation)
  * [AI Use Case](https://carl-wuerfel.de/en/glossary/use-case)
  * [AI washing](https://carl-wuerfel.de/en/glossary/ai-washing)
  * [Build vs. Buy](https://carl-wuerfel.de/en/glossary/build-vs-buy)
  * [Data governance](https://carl-wuerfel.de/en/glossary/data-governance)
  * [Data quality](https://carl-wuerfel.de/en/glossary/datenqualitaet)
  * [Deepfake](https://carl-wuerfel.de/en/glossary/deepfake)
  * [Explainable AI](https://carl-wuerfel.de/en/glossary/explainable-ai)
  * [General-purpose AI (GPAI)](https://carl-wuerfel.de/en/glossary/gpai)
  * [Pilot Graveyard](https://carl-wuerfel.de/en/glossary/pilot-graveyard)
  * [Shadow AI](https://carl-wuerfel.de/en/glossary/schatten-ki)

### Search & visibility

  * [AI Overviews](https://carl-wuerfel.de/en/glossary/ai-overviews)
  * [E-E-A-T](https://carl-wuerfel.de/en/glossary/eeat)
  * [Google AI Mode](https://carl-wuerfel.de/en/glossary/ai-mode)
  * [Information Gain](https://carl-wuerfel.de/en/glossary/information-gain)
  * [llms.txt](https://carl-wuerfel.de/en/glossary/llms-txt)
  * [Query fan-out](https://carl-wuerfel.de/en/glossary/query-fan-out)
  * [Topical authority](https://carl-wuerfel.de/en/glossary/topical-authority)

[Glossary A to Z](https://carl-wuerfel.de/en/glossary)