Intranet and digital workplace search. Presentation by Workgrid during the DWG Technology Lab of June 17, 2020. Brought to you by the DWG Technology & Research Institute.

1. 1
Can intelligent
technologies
actually improve
search?

2. 2
Gillian McCann
Co-Founder & CTO
Frank Pathyil
Director of Strategy & Partnerships

3. 3
Agenda
01 The gap between enterprise and consumer search
02 The vision for search and intelligent technology

4. 4
Personalized Search
As consumers we’re accustomed to personalized
search – location, search history
Goodbye Keywords, Hello Queries
Search is changing from keywords to natural
language queries – what, why, how, when
Voice is on the Rise
In the wake of Covid-19, touchless search options are
more critical than ever
Image Search
Searching for products based on a picture you saw in
a magazine
The gap between enterprise and consumer
search
Hey Google –
Who is the
president?
Hey Google –
What’s the
score for the
Mets game?
Alexa – What’s
the weather
this weekend?
Alexa – Find
recipe for cotton
candy cupcakes

5. 5
Discussion 1
• How satisfied are you with your current search capabilities?
• What are the core issues you’re having with search?
• What are you doing to make it easier for people to find info?
• How much work do you currently put into managing and
improving your existing search functionality?

6. 6
Answers. Not Links.
Our Vision for Search

7. 7
Extracting Answers
from Documents &
Knowledge Base
The Future of Finding Answers
• Where can I find the maternity leave
policy?
• How long is maternity leave?
• How long can I take off when having a
baby?
• How much is statutory maternity pay?
• Does my health insurance extend to
pregnancy?
• Am I entitled to leave if my wife is
having a baby
• What is the maximum time I can take
off when having a baby?
Documents

8. 8
Intelligent Technologies
• Semantic Search
• Understanding I’m having a baby is the same as maternity leave
• Machine Reading Comprehension
• Finding the answer “maternity leave is 12 weeks” in a document titled
"HR Policy 2020"
• Natural Language Search
• Having a conversation to find answers by clarifying your intent

9. 9
Systems
Extracting Answers
from Enterprise
Systems
Beyond Search : Dynamic Answers
• What's on my calendar?
• What is the status of my IT Help
Desk ticket?
• Who is Gillian McCann's manager?
• Which sale’s rep is performing best
this month?
• What's the weather at the office?
• What is the current price of
Sku#3456UX?

10. 10
The bot understands the intent of
question: Can I access the office?
and accesses a set of prebuilt
answers.
The bot ALSO understands a
possible question related to chair
policy.
The bot accesses an HR policy around
home equipment that limits expenses to
$100/yr for chairs if you qualify. It further
understands that I qualify. It also finds a
policy that lets us use a corporate
system to order a chair. It composes a
choice.
The bot sends a request in the
corporate purchasing system and an
approval is routed to my manager.
Answers + Actions =
Assistant

11. 11
Discussion 2
• How can this change your business?
• What aspects of this are most feasible for you to implement at
your workforce in the next few years?
• What are the challenges/roadblocks to getting this deployed
within your organization?

12. 12
Gillian McCann
Co-Founder & CTO
@othergill
Frank Pathyil
Director of Strategy & Partnerships
@FP_working
Thank you!