Abstract: The disclosed embodiments relate to a system that automatically interacts with a customer during an automated customer-support conversation. The system first receives a textual input from the customer during the automated customer-support conversation, wherein the conversation relates to an issue the customer has with a product or a service used by the customer. Next, the system calculates a semantic embedding in a vector space for the textual input. The system then determines a new position in a predefined dialogue tree based on the calculated semantic embedding and a current position of the conversation in the dialogue tree, wherein the dialogue tree defines a structure for the conversation, including dialogue text, and predefined responsive customer-support actions for various customer inputs. Finally, the system navigates to the new position in the dialogue tree and performs a responsive customer-support action associated with the new position.