Tasks
Memory and notes
An AI staff member can remember durable facts across every task it works on, and keep working notes that live only for the job in hand.
Two different kinds of remembering, kept deliberately apart.
Where it runs: in AI staff runs, for staff given the memory tools.
What a staff member can do
| It can | What that looks like |
|---|---|
| Remember something | A durable fact or preference, kept across sessions and tasks |
| Recall or list what it knows | Reads back what it has stored |
| Forget something | Removes a stored fact |
| Keep working notes | A scratchpad for the current task — intermediate results, findings so far |
Memory versus scratchpad
Memory persists. “The finance team wants figures in lakhs”, “the client prefers Friday updates” — things that are true next month too. It belongs to the staff member, so every task that staff member touches benefits from it.
Scratchpad is per task. It exists so a long, multi-step run can hold intermediate results without stuffing them back through the conversation, and it goes away with the task. Nothing in a scratchpad leaks into another job.
The distinction matters when you correct a staff member. “From now on, always quote prices excluding VAT” is a memory instruction; “for this one, use last year’s figures” is not, and should not become permanent.
Managing it
Memory is per staff member and readable — ask a staff member what it remembers and it will list it. If something in there is wrong or stale, tell it to forget that item; you do not have to rebuild the staff member.
Memory is not a knowledge base. Durable, shared, citable organisational knowledge belongs in the Brain, where everyone and every staff member can reach it. Memory is one worker’s habits and preferences.