Jay's point about the application of an industrial mindset to the use of knowledge is right, I think.

When I think of concept workers, it "feels" like it's missing the scaffolding & building up of responses that come from interaction, exchange and development.

The next step involves that interaction and exchange by definition, no ? This term won't work (for sure) but I found myself thinking of accretive workers (or to goof around, "accreative" workers).