Postgres First: Why Relational Data is the Better RAG Foundation

RAG implementation shouldn't start with infrastructure questions about vector databases, but rather with defining what approved knowledge workflows need to retrieve. Since most operational data already exists in relational form, Postgres + pgvector provides a practical foundation that keeps retrieval logic aligned with the operational data model while maintaining auditability and governance. The critical success factor is building an inspectable retrieval system with proper metadata and evaluation criteria, not simply having embeddings.