Glossary
Key Terms & Concepts
The technologies, principles, and architectural decisions behind Engram — explained in plain language.
Confidential Computing
Confidential computing is a hardware-based security approach that protects data while it is being processed.
Trusted Execution Environments (TEE)
A Trusted Execution Environment is a secure area within a processor that guarantees the confidentiality and integrity of code and data loaded inside it.
Hardware-Level Isolation
Hardware-level isolation uses physical processor features — rather than software alone — to separate workloads from each other and from the host system.
Encryption at Rest / in Transit
Encryption at rest protects stored data by converting it into an unreadable format on disk.
End-to-End Encryption
End-to-end encryption (E2EE) ensures that data is encrypted on the sender's device and only decrypted on the recipient's device.
Data Sovereignty
Data sovereignty refers to the principle that data is subject to the laws and governance structures of the country where it is stored or processed.
Zero Public Endpoints
A zero public endpoints architecture means that no part of the application is exposed to the public internet.
GDPR
The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is a European Union regulation that governs how organizations collect, store, process, and share personal data.
nDSG (Swiss Data Protection Act)
The nDSG (neues Datenschutzgesetz) is Switzerland's federal data protection act, revised and effective from September 2023.
RBAC (Role-Based Access Control)
Role-Based Access Control is a method of restricting system access based on the roles assigned to individual users within an organization.
Organizational Intelligence
Organizational intelligence is the collective capability of an organization to gather, process, and act on information.
Institutional Knowledge
Institutional knowledge is the accumulated know-how, context, and expertise that exists within an organization.
Knowledge Graph
A knowledge graph is a data structure that represents information as a network of entities (nodes) and relationships (edges).
Temporal Knowledge Graphs
Temporal knowledge graphs extend standard knowledge graphs by adding a time dimension to every relationship and entity.
Semantic Search
Semantic search is a search technique that understands the meaning and intent behind a query, rather than matching keywords literally.
Full-Text Search
Full-text search is a traditional search technique that scans the complete text of documents to find exact or near-exact matches for a query.
Hybrid Search
Hybrid search combines semantic search (meaning-based) and full-text search (keyword-based) into a single query pipeline.
Knowledge Silos
Knowledge silos occur when information is trapped within specific teams, tools, or individuals and is not accessible to the wider organization.
Relationship Mapping
Relationship mapping is the process of identifying and visualizing the connections between people, projects, concepts, and documents within an organization.
LLM (Large Language Model)
A Large Language Model is an AI system trained on vast amounts of text data that can understand, generate, and reason about natural language.
CAOS (Contextual Agent Orchestration System)
CAOS (Contextual Agent Orchestration System) is Engram's proprietary framework for coordinating multiple AI agents to answer complex queries.
MARM (Multi-Agent Resource Manager)
MARM (Multi-Agent Resource Manager) is Engram's resource allocation system that manages compute, memory, and priority across multiple concurrently running AI agents.
Knowledge-First Architecture
Knowledge-first architecture is a design philosophy that treats structured, interconnected knowledge as the foundation of an AI system — rather than relying solely on raw language model generation.
Confidence-Based Routing
Confidence-based routing is an AI system design pattern where queries are directed to different processing paths based on the system's confidence in its ability to answer them.
Multi-Agent Orchestration
Multi-agent orchestration is the coordination of multiple specialized AI agents working together to complete complex tasks.
Ephemeral Containers
Ephemeral containers are short-lived, isolated computing environments that are created on demand to handle a specific task and are destroyed immediately afterward.
Self-Hosted
Self-hosted software is deployed and run on infrastructure that you own or control, rather than on a vendor's shared cloud.
4-Database Architecture
A 4-database architecture uses four specialized database technologies — each optimized for a different type of data operation — rather than forcing all data into a single general-purpose database.
PostgreSQL
PostgreSQL is an open-source relational database management system known for its reliability, extensibility, and standards compliance.
Neo4j
Neo4j is a native graph database that stores data as nodes and relationships rather than rows and columns.
Qdrant
Qdrant is an open-source vector database optimized for storing and searching high-dimensional vector embeddings.
Redis
Redis is an in-memory data store used primarily for caching, session management, and real-time data processing.
Graphiti
Graphiti is a framework for building temporal knowledge graphs that evolve over time.
VPN
A Virtual Private Network (VPN) creates an encrypted tunnel between devices over the public internet, allowing them to communicate as if they were on the same private network.
Engram
Engram is an organizational intelligence platform that captures, connects, and surfaces the knowledge within your organization.
EngramGo
EngramGo is the mobile companion app for Engram, designed for quick knowledge capture and retrieval on the go.
Tailscale
Tailscale is a mesh VPN service built on the WireGuard protocol that creates secure, private networks between devices without complex configuration.
SSO (Single Sign-On)
Single Sign-On is an authentication mechanism that allows users to log in once with a single set of credentials and gain access to multiple applications.