Abstract: Persistent storage contains a state machine for a request routing process and a plurality of requests related to the request routing process. One or more processors are configured to apply the state machine through operations including: obtaining a request from the plurality of requests; providing, to a criticality detection application and to an intent detection application, a representation of the request, wherein the criticality detection application is configured to detect a criticality of the request, and wherein the intent detection application is configured to determine a semantic intent of the request; receiving, from the criticality detection application and the intent detection application, respective indications of a detected criticality of the request and a detected intent of the request; determining whether to route the request to a channel that is one of a live agent, a virtual agent, or a search-based application; and routing the request to the channel as determined.