Part A · How DMA AI works

A.7The bridge database: one memory

Built in the POC

No.: A.7
Relates to DMA's book: Decision Book p.14, p.44
Part: A · the foundation

What this part does · Decision Book p.14, p.44

DMA's book asks for a two-way Nutshell connection, an AI review of all 30,000 records, and an Account Digital Twin: one living picture of each account that every part of the system reads from.

Why DMA needs it: The AI needs fast, complete, remembered context (every note, every chat, every score) without hammering Nutshell's API or storing its conclusions inside Nutshell's own fields.

How we do it

A PostgreSQL database sits between the AI and Nutshell. It keeps a mirror of Nutshell (accounts, people, leads, notes, activities), kept current by a sync worker, so the AI reads fast and never calls Nutshell directly. The mirror can always be rebuilt from Nutshell.
Next to the mirror it keeps what the AI owns: facts extracted from notes (each with the quote it came from), scores and tiers with their reasons, the Account Digital Twin, summaries, every conversation in full, and the control plane (approvals, the write gate, the decision log).
Seven areas, 117 tables in the prototype: the CRM mirror, the AI layer, conversations and memory, the taxonomy, the AI workers' registry, the control plane, and operations.
It is a protected copy of DMA's data: message bodies and contact details are encrypted, each part of the system connects with its own limited role, and row-level rules mean a rep sees only their own accounts. A record deleted in Nutshell is marked deleted here too and drops out of every list.

The flow

It plays on its own while it's on screen; hover or use the controls to pause or step through.

Step 1 of 5

Nutshell changes

A rep edits a deal in Nutshell.

Nutshell
Rule in code
Stored data
AI

Where the data goes

The same six stages on every page. Nothing reaches Nutshell except through the write gate.

1Nutshell and chats
Source
Nutshell records, website chats, email replies, call transcripts.
2Sync
Copies Nutshell changes into the bridge database
Mirrors Nutshell into the bridge, and brings written changes back.
3Bridge database
A copy of the CRM data, plus what the AI works out
The mirror, the AI layer, conversations, the control plane: seven areas.
4AI
Claude models, only through DMA's own gateway
Reads the bridge; its conclusions are stored here, not in Nutshell.
5Write gate
The only way back into Nutshell: checked, approved when needed, sent once
The part of the bridge that holds changes for Nutshell.
6Nutshell
The system of record
Remains the system of record for CRM facts.

The tables behind it

Drawn from the POC's database catalogue: structure only, no data.

PK primary keyFK reference the database enforces (solid line)ID reference kept by id (dashed line)

Table	What it holds	Columns
crm.accounts	The mirror of Nutshell companies, with where each row came from and when.	17
crm.leads	The mirror of Nutshell leads: status, value, stage.	26
ai.extracted_facts	Facts the AI found in notes, each with the exact quote and its confidence.	15
ai.scores	Scores and tiers with their reasons and the scoring version.	20
ai.account_twin	The Account Digital Twin: one living picture per account.	16
conv.messages	Every line of every conversation, encrypted.	21

How the tables connect (7)

Column	Points to	Kept by
ai.extracted_facts.prompt_id	agent.prompts	The application (by id)
ai.scores.prompt_id	agent.prompts	The application (by id)
ai.account_twin.prompt_id	agent.prompts	The application (by id)
conv.messages.conversation_id	conv.conversations	The database (foreign key)
conv.messages.participant_id	conv.participants	The application (by id)
conv.messages.decision_id	ctrl.decision_log	The application (by id)
conv.messages.agent_version_id	agent.agent_versions	The application (by id)

Worked example

Synthetic demo data: every name, business and number is made up.

One account, from Nutshell to the Account Digital Twin

1 / 4

What you see

1.The record in Nutshell

An account as the team sees it in the CRM (here, the simulator standing in for Nutshell).

localhost:13311/web/company/…

The record in the CRM simulator (standing in for Nutshell).

What happens in the system

Nutshell
The system of record: the account, its people, leads and notes.
Conversation servicesync worker
Mirrors it into the bridge; each row remembers its Nutshell id and when it was fetched.
Bridge databasecrm.accounts · crm.leads · crm.notes
The mirror. Note bodies are stored encrypted.

What the prototype's bridge holds today (synthetic accounts from the demo seed).

The seven areas

Area	Tables	What it holds
CRM mirror	19	Accounts, people, leads, notes, activities, tasks, as they are in Nutshell
AI layer	20	Facts with quotes, scores and tiers, the Account Digital Twin, summaries, site reviews, proposals
Conversations	7	Every chat, email and call, in full, encrypted
Taxonomy	5	DMA's categories: lost reasons, services, objections, buyer types
AI workers	12	The workers, versions, tools, prompts, test runs
Control plane	35	Rules, approvals, the write gate, escalations, consent, the decision log
Operations	19	Users, sessions, the AI gateway's call log, sync runs

In the prototype right now

Accounts mirrored: 292
Leads mirrored: 321
Notes mirrored: 612
Current scores: 300
Account Digital Twins: 292
Database: PostgreSQL 17 with pgvector

In the running POC

localhost:13311/web/company/…

1 / 3The record in the CRM simulator (standing in for Nutshell).

1The AI fields, written through the write gate.
2The activity note.

CRM simulator (stands in for Nutshell) · one company record. Captured from the running POC on September 25, 2026; synthetic data.

See it live

Opens the exact screen in the running POC, in a new tab.

Open	Where	What to try
Accounts	DMA AI dashboard	Open any account to see its twin.
The CRM simulator	CRM simulator (stands in for Nutshell)	The same accounts, as Nutshell holds them.

Status

Built in the POC

Built in the POC. This capability runs in the POC today, on synthetic data, end to end.