How to build advanced RAG systems with AI-generated SQL

Using AI to generate SQL queries to power a RAG (retrieval augmented generation) application is a powerful way to add an AI layer to your product. I have built several applications like this for my enterprise software clients and today I'll share the fundamentals of building such apps with you.

This is an in-depth hands-on tutorial about building AI-powered applications with the power of AI-generated SQL to answer user questions.

📚 Resources:

🔧Tools Used:
- OpenAI GPT-4o-mini
- Cursor + Claude Sonnet 3.5
- Postgres
- MERN (Mongo, Express, React, NodeJS)
- Tailwind, ShadCN

🚀 In This Video, You'll learn:
- How to build RAG systems
- How to use AI with your own data
- How to generate SQL with AI
- How to build enterprise AI-powered applications
- AI to query a database
- AI-powered chatbot architecture
- What is RAG (retrieval augmented generation)
- Vector RAG vs Query RAG
- How to build a custom chatbot
- Tips for building RAG pipelines
- Limitations of AI RAG

💡 Perfect for Viewers Interested in:
- Full Stack software development
- Best AI applications
- Business AI usecases
- AI-generated SQL
- Software Development
- Coding with AI
- Learning about the latest AI tech
- Generative AI
- GenAI chatbots

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💬 Questions or Feedback? Drop your thoughts in the comments below, and I'll be sure to get back to you!

Chapters
00:00 - Intro to RAG
01:29 - Architecture
09:15 - Coding
19:23 - Prompt Engineering
29:32 - Tips & Limitations

[rodanmuro]

I've worked on a similar approach, about some months ago, for a management system for a school; many authors say the best approach is using vector databases, but i think the proper combination of SQL and AI, could show the information in a friendly way (for example, showing reports as a tables), but keeping the posibilty to fetch this reports using natural language; I thought i was "alone" in this approach, but I see I wasnt; thanks for sharing

[Ke_Mis]

Great stuff Volo! Really liked the last part "query RAG tips / limitations". Often overlooked but super valuable to mention all the traps and limitations. Nicely Done!

[ayhan-inal]

I might not have noticed if it is mentioned in the video, but adding a 'do not generate any SQL script for deleting or truncating' statement would be safer. Thanks for this good video.

[arilaakso]

Exactly what I was looking for! Thanks a lot, great video!

[SouthbayCreations]

Thanks for the video! A little advanced for my skill set but definitely packed with excellent information! Thanks!! Jason

[amarah]

Amazing Video. Super useful. Very well explained. Thanks ..!!

[jim]

I have created the standard vector database but not this type and I am not a database person so I am confused about the database these tables are getting added to. Did already have an empty database with no tables and each csv file adds a custom table into the database?

[SouthbayCreations]

Hey Volo, I’d love to hear your thoughts on that new Windsurf IDE. Wonder if it’s a better option than Cursor. Thanks! Jason

[samds]

could you build an app that uses RAG with PDF uploads? And perhaps incorporate a workflow system like Inngest and an eval tool like Langsmith. Would be awesome to see!

[stanTrX]

Thanks but what if i want to embed the content/data of the database?

[RedCloudServices]

I have seen that Pydantic AI does this and the response is structured