Buzzwords, explained with practical analogies

Buzzwords have a bad reputation. They are often used to impress rather than to explain.

But most of them name something real. The problem isn't the word; it's using it without critical thinking.

Here are the most common ones, explained with analogies from the trades. And for each one, the question that matters: when does it help, and when doesn't it?

RAG: the archive with a librarian

A well-organized archive with a librarian who knows where everything is and cites the source.

Before answering, the AI searches your documents and builds its answer from what it finds. It helps when you have a large body of your own documentation and people waste time searching for things. It doesn't help if the archive is disorganized: it has to be organized first.

Agent: the new employee with a supervisor

A new employee with written instructions and a supervisor who checks the work.

An agent doesn't just answer: it carries out steps. It looks things up, fills in forms, sends messages, and keeps records. It helps with repetitive tasks that have clear rules. It doesn't help if no one is going to review what it does.

MCP: the standard plug

The standard plug that lets one tool connect to another without adapters.

It is a protocol that lets AI assistants connect to your systems in an orderly way. It helps you avoid custom development for every tool. It doesn't help if the data doesn't exist or was entered incorrectly.

FDE: the technician who makes house calls

The technician who comes to your home instead of selling you the appliance from a catalog.

Forward Deployed Engineer: someone who works inside your operation so the technology actually works. That is what we do at Inbucle. You don't need one if the problem is small and a standard tool already solves it.

Automation: the plumbing

If it's poorly designed, it moves dirty water faster.

Automation helps with frequent tasks that have clear rules and reliable data. If the process isn't defined, automating it only speeds up the confusion.

AI governance: the breaker panel

The breaker panel decides what gets through and trips when something goes wrong.

Governing AI means defining who uses it, with what data, for what purpose, and under what review. It is never overkill, but it can fit on a single page.

Knowledge base: the blueprints

Without the blueprints, every repair starts from scratch.

It is the company's information, organized by department, process, policy, and form. A knowledge base that nobody maintains is worse than not having one.

Going further

There are more terms in the glossary, and we will keep adding to it. If any of them raises questions about your business, we can work through it live in a Speedboost.