Michael Iantosca

Where content, knowledge management, and AI converge, you'll find Michael Iantosca.

As many in the AI world flock to probabilistic models like LLMs, Michael takes a deterministic approach to content management and knowledge engineering, using ontologies and knowledge graphs to ground content in a concrete facts.

This approach embodies his insight that content and the models that describe it are not static information but rather valuable, ever-evolving enterprise IP assets.

We talked about:

his 44-year career in content, knowledge management and localization/globalization roles
the three pillars of his work: content, knowledge management, and engineering
the need he sees in his work to move away from probabilistic, vector-based models to deterministic, neuro-symbolic models like knowledge graphs
how he decides which models are appropriate to use with each of the varied kinds of data he works with
his explorations of how to automatically construct a knowledge graph to use to power generative AI solutions
how he acquires and develops ontology skills in his team
how graph technology supports the "total content experiences" he builds
how the non-static nature of content makes it a poor candidate to be managed in a static system like a vector-based model
the relative merits and utility of 1) deterministic retrieval for structured content and 2) probabilistic retrieval for unstructured content
the power of combining content models, knowledge models, and ontologies and how they can become crucial enterprise IP assets
his belief that we are entering a golden age of content and knowledge engineering

Michael's bio
Michael Iantosca is the Senior Director of Knowledge Platforms and Engineering at Avalara, a sales tax automation company. With over four decades of leadership in technical content management, Michael has been a pioneer in advancing the profession, driving innovations in structured content, intelligent authoring, and scalable knowledge platforms. Renowned for bridging engineering and content teams, he has championed the adoption of AI and cutting-edge technologies to enhance user experience. A thought leader and mentor, Michael continues to shape the future of technical communication through his expertise and passion for innovation.
Connect with Michael online

LinkedIn
Medium
ThinkingDocumentation

Video
Here’s the video version of our conversation:

https://youtu.be/WG9Nl5OY3QI
Podcast intro transcript
This is the Knowledge Graph Insights podcast, episode number 16. A lot of work in the AI world these days is about vectorizing giant collections of static, unstructured content and data for LLMs. Michael Iantosca has worked for decades in a world where content is dynamic, always precisely structured, and contextualized with rich metadata. So he has a different take on architectural innovations like graph RAG, favoring knowledge-based deterministic retrieval of content over vector-based models and probabilistic methods.
Interview transcript
Larry:
Hi, everyone. Welcome to episode number 16 of the knowledge graph Insights podcast. I am really delighted today to welcome to the show, Michael Iantosca. Michael is currently the Senior Director of Knowledge Platforms and Engineering at Avalara, the big tax-compliance automation software company. He's also got a long history. He's spent a couple of decades, a few decades at IBM prior to his role at Avalara. Welcome to the show, Michael. Tell the folks a little bit more about what you're up to these days.

Michael:
Larry, thank you for having me. It's a pleasure and an honor to get a few minutes to talk to you today. Yeah, I have just started my 44th year primarily in the professional content space, but also in the knowledge management and localization globalization space as well. I have been involved with content since the early days of SGML that began the structured content revolution and wo...