Frequently Asked Questions about Evi

What is Evi?

Evi is an AI assistant built by the Data Foundation to help users search and analyze documents in the Evidence Act Hub. Currently in beta, Evi answers questions about federal agency learning agendas, evaluation plans, and capacity assessments, with citations to the original source for every answer.

Who built Evi?

Evi was co-developed by the Data Foundation, Data Foundation Senior Fellow Ted Kaouk, and his firm generativework.ai. Its platform, Structured Notes, turns unstructured documents into AI-ready intelligence, by building knowledge graphs that surface hidden insights and enable information retrieval and workflow execution with AI. Learn more at structurednotes.app.

What can Evi help me with?

Evi can help you explore the Evidence Act Hub’s document repository by answering natural-language questions. For example, you can ask Evi to compare evidence-building priorities across agencies, summarize learning agendas for a specific department, or locate key policy documents like OMB guidance.

How does Evi generate answers?

Evi is "grounded," meaning the assistant answers questions based on the verified documents provided within the Evidence Act Hub. Every answer includes inline citations to the specific document and section being referenced, so you can always check the original source yourself.

How is Evi different from a general AI chatbot?

Evi answers based on documents housed in the Evidence Act Hub and provides an inline citation to the source document with every answer, rather than drawing on general knowledge.

Can Evi make mistakes?

Yes. Evi is an AI assistant, and especially while in beta, it can occasionally misread a document or summarize one imperfectly.  If you come across an answer that looks inaccurate, we'd genuinely welcome hearing about it. Please reach out to the Data Foundation team at evidencehub@datafoundation.org.

Can Evi give me legal or policy advice?

No. Evi is strictly an informational tool. The assistant cannot provide legal advice, policy advocacy, or opinions on whether a specific law or policy is "good" or "bad." Evi also will not speculate on agency intent beyond what is explicitly documented in the Hub’s materials.

What if Evi doesn't know the answer to my question?

Because Evi is designed to be highly reliable and accurate, the assistant is programmed to be honest about its limits. If a question falls outside the scope of our materials, or if the Hub’s documents do not contain the answer, Evi will politely explain that and suggest that you reach out to the Data Foundation staff at evidencehub@datafoundation.org for further assistance. 

What is the Evidence Act Hub?

The Evidence Act Hub is a public archive at evidenceact.org, launched in December 2025 by the Center for Evidence Capacity, a Data Foundation program. It centralizes federal documents required under the Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act of 2018.

Why was the Evidence Act Hub created?

Federal evidence-building documents were previously scattered across dozens of individual agency websites in inconsistent formats, making cross-agency analysis slow and manual. The Hub centralizes these documents in one searchable location, and now serves as the principal public archive following the retirement of evaluation.gov.

How can I access Evi?

Evi is available at evidenceact.org.