AI systems are increasingly used to access information stored in documents. They promise fast answers, natural interaction, and higher efficiency. At the same time, many organisations struggle with a fundamental question: Can we trust these answers if we don’t fully understand their context?

In practice, the challenge is not a lack of information or AI capabilities. It is about how information is selected, narrowed down, and interpreted before AI comes into play.

The dilemma: Search or chat?

Traditional document search and AI-powered chat systems each address different needs.

• Search provides transparency, control, and reproducible results
• AI chat enables flexible, conversational access to information

Used independently, both approaches reveal their limitations. Search often returns too many results. AI chat, when applied to large or poorly defined data spaces, may produce answers that are difficult to trace back to their sources.

The result is a growing tension between efficiency and trust.

A hybrid perspective: putting order before interpretation

Rather than choosing between search or AI, HIBU follows a hybrid approach. The core idea is simple: Before AI interprets information, the relevant context must be deliberately defined. Search mechanisms – including filters, metadata, and structured queries – are used to narrow down the information space. AI is then applied only to this clearly defined set of documents or results.

This separation between selection and interpretation leads to:

• higher answer quality
• greater transparency
• reduced risk of misleading results

AI no longer operates on an open or opaque data space, but on a context users can understand and control. This is what we refer to as hybrid AI search: separating the selection of relevant information from its AI-based interpretation.

From architecture to practice: the Nextcloud plugin

This architectural principle is now available in everyday work.

With a new Nextcloud plugin, HIBU brings this hybrid approach directly to document-centric workflows, extending its existing integrations to an open-source collaboration platform. The plugin enables users to:

• search documents using faceted and structured criteria
• and then interact with the selected results through a chat interface

The AI works exclusively on the chosen result set. Users remain aware of which documents form the basis of an answer and can adjust the context at any time.

Built for real-world environments and digital sovereignty

Organisations rarely operate in a single, homogeneous system landscape. Document repositories, collaboration platforms, and business systems grow over time and remain heterogeneous.

HIBU addresses this reality by:

• integrating into existing platforms such as SAP, Exchange, classic file servers, SharePoint, and Nextcloud
• supporting different deployment models, including on-premise and private cloud
• enabling future integration of additional data sources

By supporting both proprietary systems and open-source platforms such as Nextcloud, HIBU enables organisations to pursue Digital Sovereignty without compromising integration, governance, or control.

More than a feature: a controlled way forward

The goal of the HIBU approach is not maximum automation, but reliable and responsible information access. HIBU is an enterprise search and AI solution that combines classic search with AI to enable controlled, hybrid access to organisational knowledge.

By defining context first and applying AI second, organisations can benefit from AI without turning search into a black box. Control, transparency, and trust remain part of the system design – not an afterthought.

Outlook

AI will continue to change how we work with information. Its success, however, will depend less on model size or novelty, and more on how thoughtfully it is embedded into existing structures.

The Nextcloud plugin marks an important step in making controlled, hybrid AI search a practical reality.

Learn more about the HIBU platform and its approach to controlled, hybrid AI search.