
What if you could ask questions about the information stored in SharePoint and get a direct, AI-generated answer instead of searching through documents, lists, and pages of search results?
In this short, hands-on course, you will learn how Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) can be used with SharePoint Server to create an AI-powered question-answering solution.
We will start with the problem: traditional search is great for finding content, but sometimes what we really want is an answer. You will learn what RAG is, how it works, and how components such as embeddings, vector search, reranking, and Large Language Models (LLMs) work together.
Then we will build and run a complete RAG solution around the Microsoft technology stack.
Our SharePoint environment will contain both documents and list data. We will create an ingestion pipeline that reads this content, divides documents into smaller chunks, generates embeddings, and stores them as vectors in Microsoft SQL Server.
Next, we will build the query pipeline. A user's question will be converted into an embedding and used to search SQL Server for relevant SharePoint content. We will then use a reranker to select the best results and provide that context to an LLM to generate the final answer.
Finally, we will put everything together in a simple web interface where you can ask questions and receive answers based on the information stored in SharePoint.
What you will learn
Understand RAG and the problem it solves
Understand embeddings and vector search without going deep into the mathematics
Use SharePoint documents and lists as RAG data sources
Store and search embeddings using Microsoft SQL Server
Build a simple RAG ingestion pipeline with Python
Retrieve and rerank relevant SharePoint content
Generate answers using an LLM
Run the complete solution through a simple user interface
Understand the end-to-end architecture of a practical SharePoint RAG solution
This course is intentionally short and practical. You don't need to become an AI researcher or study complicated machine-learning theory. The goal is to understand the main concepts, see how the pieces fit together, and finish the course with a working RAG project that you can explore and improve yourself.
Let's give SharePoint a new way to answer questions!