QCon AI New York 2025

Session

Graph RAG: Building Smarter Retrieval Workflows with Knowledge Graphs

December 16–17, 2025 · The New York Academy of Medicine

Tuesday Dec 16 / 10:20AM EST · Library Reading Room, 3rd Flr

Speaker

Cassie Shum

Vice President of Field Engineering @RelationalAI, Previously @Thoughtworks

Full speaker profile

Abstract

Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) has unlocked new capabilities for large language models (LLMs) by providing them with external context. But in real-world settings, many RAG systems still struggle—relying on static pipelines and vector-only retrieval that often fall short when queries are complex, multi-step, or domain-specific.

This talk explores how knowledge graphs can address these limitations, evolving RAG into a more structured and semantically aware system. We'll introduce Graph RAG, a practical approach that incorporates entities, relationships, and provenance to improve retrieval quality, enable traceable reasoning, and provide fine-grained control over what’s retrieved—and why.

Building on this foundation, we’ll share our work on extending toward agentic RAG: LLM-powered agents that use graph-native reasoning and declarative logic to plan and execute multi-step workflows. These systems go beyond passive retrieval and toward active problem-solving across structured data.

You’ll leave with practical patterns, architecture ideas, and an understanding of how to build retrieval workflows that are robust, intelligent, and ready for scale.

What you’ll learn:

  • Where traditional RAG architectures break down in complex domains
  • How Graph RAG leverages semantic context for better retrieval and reasoning
  • How Graph RAG can leverage agentic workflows to enable multi-step workflows grounded in structured data
  • Design patterns and architectures that you can apply today with graph-native systems
  • How to build AI systems that go beyond chatbots and toward robust, explainable automation