Rafiki and Your Workplace Buddy: Bringing People and Knowledge Together

Introduction

Starting a new job means learning much more than the responsibilities listed in a job description. There are unfamiliar systems, organisational processes, unwritten rules, and plenty of questions that only arise once you start doing the job.

Many organisations pair new starters with a buddy: an existing colleague who helps them find their feet, understand the culture, and navigate their new role. It is a simple but valuable approach because having someone to ask makes those first few weeks less daunting.

We’ve complemented this human support with “Rafiki”, our SharePoint agent. The interesting part isn’t replacing the buddy relationship with AI. It’s exploring how the two can work together.

People provide context. Rafiki helps find information

A workplace buddy offers something that documentation alone cannot: personal experience, conversation, context, and an understanding of how things work in practice.

They can explain team dynamics, introduce colleagues, clarify expectations, and help a new starter feel part of the organisation. Sometimes, the most useful answer comes from a conversation rather than a document.

However, buddies are still busy doing their own jobs. They cannot always be available to answer every question, particularly when the answer already exists somewhere in organisational documentation.

This is where Rafiki complements the relationship.

By helping colleagues discover information held in SharePoint, Rafiki provides another route to answers about organisational guidance, policies, and procedures. Rather than waiting for their buddy to become available, a new starter may be able to find the relevant information independently.

The distinction is important: a buddy helps you understand the organisation; Rafiki helps you find the knowledge you need to navigate it.

Support that continues beyond the first few weeks

The questions people ask change as they become more familiar with their surroundings.

Initially, someone might need help locating induction information or understanding where to find a particular policy. Later, they might need purchasing guidance, IT procedures, brand guidelines, or project templates.

Some questions are best answered by a person. Others are straightforward information requests where finding the right document is the main challenge.

Having both options gives employees flexibility. They can turn to their buddy for personal guidance and practical context, while using Rafiki to explore available organisational knowledge.

It also recognises that learning doesn’t end when the formal introduction period finishes. People continue encountering unfamiliar processes and responsibilities throughout their employment.

The importance of getting the foundations right

Of course, introducing an AI assistant doesn’t automatically make organisational information more useful.

Rafiki’s effectiveness depends on the quality, relevance, and accessibility of the SharePoint content behind it. Outdated documents, conflicting guidance, unclear ownership, and inappropriate permissions remain important considerations.

There is also a difference between finding a policy and understanding how it applies to a particular situation. An AI-generated response should not remove the need for judgement, clarification, or conversations with the right people.

This is why I see Rafiki as complementary to human support, rather than a replacement for it.

The technology can help people find information, while colleagues provide the experience, reassurance, and context that make joining an organisation a genuinely human experience.

A more connected employee experience

For me, the opportunity is to bring these two forms of support together: the personal connection of having a buddy and the convenience of being able to explore organisational knowledge through Rafiki.

The business value is worth exploring, too. Could this reduce repetitive questions, help new starters become independent sooner, or make existing SharePoint knowledge easier to discover? Those are useful questions to investigate, rather than outcomes to assume.

I’d be interested to hear how other organisations approach this balance.

Do you pair new starters with workplace buddies? Are you introducing AI assistants to help employees find internal knowledge? And how do you ensure technology strengthens human support rather than inadvertently replacing the conversations that matter?

Sometimes, helping someone settle in isn’t about providing another tool. It’s about making sure they have both the right people to turn to and the information to move forward.