Dell CTO Says Company Knowledge, Not AI Models, Is Key Competitive Edge
Dell executives argue that proprietary operational knowledge, not the AI models themselves, provides the true advantage for enterprises deploying autonomous agents.
Key points
- Dell has run fully autonomous agents internally for nearly two years to shape customer advice.
- John Roese warns that adopting AI without changing operating models leads to poor outcomes.
- The company uses machine-readable skill files to encode subject matter expertise into agent behavior.
Dell Technologies Inc. leadership asserts that proprietary company knowledge, rather than the artificial intelligence models themselves, constitutes the primary competitive advantage for enterprises. This position was articulated by John Roese, the global chief technology officer and chief AI officer, during a discussion at the Dell Technologies New York Symposium. According to SiliconANGLE, Roese emphasized that organizations must fundamentally restructure how people, processes, and work are organized to match the capabilities of new AI agents.
Roese stated that companies adopting agents without altering their underlying operating models accomplish very little. He argued that applying agents to existing workflows simply redistributes work between humans and machines without improving efficiency. If businesses are unwilling to change their operational structures, they will replicate their pre-AI processes using new tools, resulting in a negative experience. This perspective stems from Dell’s internal experience, having spent close to two years running fully autonomous agents within its own business operations.
The Role of Proprietary Knowledge
The transformation Dell undertook began with people and processes rather than technology deployment. Roese explained that the company’s AI Factory initiative aims to close the gap between AI ambition and actual outcomes by focusing on knowledge capture. Subject matter experts assist in encoding Dell’s specific practices into machine-readable skill files. These files guide how autonomous agents behave, ensuring they operate based on the company’s unique biases, parameters, and rules rather than generic instructions.
Roese described these skill files as simple Markdown text documents that contain special, proprietary information unknown to competitors. When an agent utilizes these files, it performs tasks such as writing code, pricing deals, or servicing customers using Dell’s specific differentiation strategies. This approach ensures that the AI operates with the same strategic intent as human employees, leveraging internal expertise to maintain competitive edges in complex business functions.
Continuous Improvement and Risks
These autonomous agents improve continuously as they work, building relationships within knowledge graphs and developing new digital skills over time. Roese warned that this continuous learning capability makes the protection of proprietary knowledge critical. He advised against handing such sensitive, differentiating knowledge to third parties, as doing so could erode the competitive advantage gained from internal operational expertise. The value lies in the specific combination of the agent’s processing power and the unique, encoded institutional knowledge.
What should you do?
Organizations should audit their current AI deployment strategies to ensure they align with broader operational changes. Leaders need to identify which internal processes contain unique, differentiating knowledge that should be encoded rather than outsourced. Companies should evaluate whether their AI tools are merely automating existing workflows or if they are integrated into a revised operating model. Monitoring how agents evolve and what data they access is essential to protecting proprietary information.
What to do and how to stay safe: Dell Technologies
- Identify critical business processes where proprietary knowledge provides a competitive advantage and prioritize encoding this expertise into machine-readable formats.
- Review current AI agent deployments to ensure they are integrated into a revised operating model rather than just overlaying new tools on old workflows.
- Establish strict controls on what proprietary data and knowledge graphs are shared with third-party AI providers or external platforms.
- Monitor agent behavior and learning outcomes continuously to ensure they adhere to specific company rules and parameters without leaking sensitive information.
Step-by-step guide: Prompt Injection Warning Signs: How to Spot AI Manipulation
General security guidance from the Threat Times newsroom. It is not confirmed advice from the organisations named in this story.
Frequently asked questions
Why does Dell believe company knowledge is more important than AI models?
Dell argues that AI models are generic, while proprietary knowledge encoded into skill files allows agents to operate with specific competitive advantages and unique operational rules.
How long has Dell been using autonomous agents internally?
Dell Technologies has spent close to two years running fully autonomous agents inside its own business to inform its customer advice and strategies.
What happens if companies adopt AI without changing their operating models?
According to John Roese, companies that do not change their operating models will simply redistribute work between people and machines, leading to a bad experience and minimal gains.
