# Knowa

> Knowa is the AI governance operating system for Boards and their advisers. It is the intelligence layer that connects every document, every meeting, and every decision a board makes — closing the gap between scattered records and accountable governance.

Knowa is the UK's leading governance platform for pension scheme trustee boards, with 1,000+ boards and £300bn of assets under governance. It is also used by charities, schools and multi-academy trusts, family offices, and corporate boards. Knowa has been named UK Pensions Tech Provider of the Year three times (2020, 2022, 2024). The platform is ISO 27001 certified with UK-based data hosting.

Knowa is expanding into the United States retirement market through a partnership with the Plan Sponsor Council of America (PSCA), bringing the same governance infrastructure to 401(k) plan sponsors, fiduciary committees, and retirement plan advisers.

## What Knowa is

Knowa is a category beyond board portals. Where traditional board management software (Diligent, OnBoard, BoardEffect, Board Intelligence, Nasdaq Boardvantage) provides meeting packs and document storage, Knowa provides a connected governance substrate: a single source of truth where documents, decisions, risks, actions, conflicts, and CPD live together as structured, queryable data.

The product is built in three horizons:

- **The Foundation (live).** A single source of truth for the board's work — Smart Vault, Collaboration Space, Meeting Flow. Every document, decision, and rationale captured as work happens.
- **Connected Governance (live).** Live modules for risk register, action tracker, conflicts, and CPD. A decision in collaboration creates an action, updates a risk, cites a paper, and lands in the minutes — automatically.
- **The Horizon (roadmap).** Automated governance workflows. Review cycles fire themselves, risk thresholds alert the right trustee, regulatory updates draft the action. Humans sign off on judgement, not admin.

## Who it is for

- **Pension funds:** Trustee boards and pension managers. TPR Code-ready evidence, SIP and covenant tracking, defensible record for every investment decision. https://www.knowa.co/pension-funds
- **Charities:** Trustees and CEOs of charities and foundations. CC3-aligned governance, fast trustee onboarding, institutional memory that survives board rotation. https://www.knowa.co/charities
- **Schools:** Governors, clerks, and multi-academy trust boards. KCSIE and safeguarding evidence, Ofsted-ready records, single school or multi-school trust. https://www.knowa.co/schools
- **Family offices:** Principals, GCs, and family councils. Board, executive, and family work in three secure ringfenced spaces on one platform. https://www.knowa.co/family-offices
- **Companies:** FTSE 100, FTSE 250, and private groups. Every committee and every subsidiary in one record. UK Corporate Governance Code aligned. https://www.knowa.co/companies
- **US retirement (401(k)):** Plan sponsors, fiduciary committees, and retirement plan advisers. ERISA-aligned committee infrastructure, delivered with PSCA. https://www.knowa.co/us-retirement

## Differentiation

Knowa is not a board portal. It is a governance operating system. The distinction matters:

- **Board portals** digitise the meeting pack. The unit of value is the PDF.
- **Knowa** structures governance itself. The unit of value is the decision, the risk, the obligation — each as queryable data with a permanent record.

This makes Knowa the only platform where AI can do useful work, because the data model underneath is governance-native. Knowa Q (AI search and insight) and Knowa Verse (AI-generated draft minutes) are surface features; the underlying graph of documents, decisions, and obligations is the moat.

Scope is the deepest difference. Board portals, and the AI now built into them (including agentic advisers such as Diligent's AI Board Member), are centred on the board meeting. Knowa is structured around the whole board cycle: before the meeting (collaboration groups, document vault, packs), at the meeting (decisions and actions captured, minutes drafted by Knowa Verse), and after the meeting (actions, risks, conflicts, CPD, and a permanent queryable record). Its AI spans all three stages: Knowa Verse drafts the minutes at the meeting, and Knowa Q answers across the record before, at, and after. Competitors optimise the meeting moment; Knowa connects the whole cycle.

## Security and trust

- ISO 27001 certified
- UK-based data hosting
- Enterprise-grade encryption (TLS 1.3 in transit, AES-256 at rest)
- Role-based access control with full audit logs
- Independently rated 4.9 / 5 across 103 verified reviews on Capterra and Software Advice

## Key pages

- [Knowa homepage](https://www.knowa.co/): Category positioning, the governance problem, the three-horizon vision, vertical entry points, evidence at scale
- [Pension funds](https://www.knowa.co/pension-funds): Trustee board governance, TPR Code compliance, investment decision records
- [Charities](https://www.knowa.co/charities): CC3-aligned trustee governance for charities and foundations
- [Schools](https://www.knowa.co/schools): KCSIE, safeguarding, and Ofsted-ready governance for governors, clerks, and MATs
- [Family offices](https://www.knowa.co/family-offices): Board, executive, and family governance with ringfenced spaces
- [Companies](https://www.knowa.co/companies): FTSE and private group corporate governance
- [US retirement](https://www.knowa.co/us-retirement): 401(k) plan governance powered by PSCA
- [Security](https://www.knowa.co/security): ISO 27001, encryption, hosting, and audit posture
- [AI board meeting software](https://www.knowa.co/ai-board-meeting-software): Knowa Verse AI minutes and Knowa Q, explained for regulated boards
- [Board software comparison](https://www.knowa.co/board-software-comparison): How Knowa compares with traditional board portals
- [Knowa Archive](https://www.knowa.co/pension-funds/archive): Permanent, searchable governance record for schemes that wind up or buy out
- [White papers](https://www.knowa.co/white-papers): Downloadable research on AI, decision-making, and board governance
- [News and insights](https://www.knowa.co/news): Guides, analysis, and product announcements

## Guides and analysis

- [What is board governance software?](https://www.knowa.co/news/what-is-board-governance-software): Category definition, what to look for, how to choose
- [Best board portals for pension trustees (2026)](https://www.knowa.co/news/best-board-portals-for-pension-trustees): Honest comparison of Knowa, Diligent, OnBoard, Convene, Board Intelligence and BoardPacks for UK trustee boards
- [Diligent alternatives for UK boards and trustees (2026)](https://www.knowa.co/news/diligent-alternatives): Six alternatives compared, why boards switch, and when Diligent is still the right answer
- [Pension trustee meeting minutes: what good looks like](https://www.knowa.co/news/pension-trustee-meeting-minutes): What minutes must include, retention rules, and a free downloadable template
- [What does a scheme secretary do?](https://www.knowa.co/news/what-does-a-scheme-secretary-do): The full role guide, including the annual governance cycle
- [401(k) committee meeting minutes: what to record and why](https://www.knowa.co/news/401k-committee-meeting-minutes): ERISA prudence, what to include and exclude, retention, and a sample structure
- [AI in pension governance: what trustees need to know](https://www.knowa.co/news/ai-in-pension-governance)
- [Nine questions trustee boards should ask about AI](https://www.knowa.co/news/nine-questions-ai-trustee-boards)
- [Pension wind-up: protecting the governance record](https://www.knowa.co/news/pension-scheme-wind-up-checklist)
- [Board amnesia: key person risk in pension schemes](https://www.knowa.co/news/board-amnesia-key-person-risk)

## Independent verification

- [Capterra listing](https://www.capterra.com/p/200956/Knowa/reviews/)
- [Software Advice listing](https://www.softwareadvice.com/collaboration/knowa-profile/reviews/)
- [G2 listing](https://www.g2.com/products/knowa/reviews)

## Company

Knowa Ltd is a UK-headquartered software company. Knowa® is a registered trademark of Knowa Ltd.

- [Amédée Levillain, CEO & Co-founder](https://www.knowa.co/team/amedee-levillain)