Enterprise RAG: The 2026 Reality Check

Craig Leppan (Imbila)

11 Dec 2025 • 2 min read

AI takes advantage of what you have already invested in...

Everyone loves the “chat with your data” demo.
Upload a PDF → ask a question → magic.

But in the real world — 500 employees, 10 years of files, complex permissions — that magic gets messy very quickly.
That’s the 2026 AI challenge.

At Imbila.ai, we think Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) will be one of the biggest competitive advantages of the year.
But we also believe something the AI market rarely says out loud:

You probably don’t need a new platform to get started.
You need to use what you already own properly.

Where Companies Get Stuck

It’s not model quality.
It’s not “lack of AI skills.”

It’s the basics:

Disorganised SharePoint/Drive structures
Permissions that don’t reflect reality
Sensitive files mixed with general files
Old content in odd places
Shadow systems nobody remembers owning

This is why companies end up overspending — because fixing foundations feels harder than buying another tool.

But the foundation is where the value is.

Imbila’s Approach: Start Simple, Start Inside Your Stack

Most organisations already pay for the core building blocks:

If you're on Microsoft 365

You already have strong search, Copilot, and a permission model that can power most everyday internal AI queries.

If you’re on Google Workspace

Gemini now connects Drive, Docs, Gmail, and internal search in a way that covers most “find this, summarise this, explain this” use cases.

For 80% of companies, this is enough to start getting value today.

Want to check your real maturity?
https://www.imbila.ai/ai-assessment

When “Good Enough” Isn’t Enough

Some organisations do have needs that go beyond the standard stack:

Large engineering repositories
High-sensitivity data environments
On-prem or hybrid workloads
Custom reasoning or multi-step processes

In those cases, we don’t reinvent the wheel.
We simply bring in a specialist partner — MindFront AI

The principle stays the same:
Use your ecosystem for 80% of the work, and bring in specialists for the 20% that truly requires it.

The 2026 Message

AI value doesn’t come from buying more AI.
It comes from using the right AI in the right place.

At Imbila.ai, our commitment is simple:

Help you get maximum value from Microsoft or Google first
Keep your spend focused and grounded
Only introduce specialist infrastructure when it’s truly needed
Make AI accessible, not overwhelming

Smart, sustainable AI — without the unnecessary complexity.