Extension to the expert conversation builder

A computer readable storage medium storing a program of instructions executable by a machine to perform a method of building a runtime dialog, comprising:

• receiving an initial answer to an initial question from a user;
• creating a state of a conversation thread based on the initial answer;
• selecting, automatically by a processor, a next question to ask from a dialog repository based on the updated state of the conversation thread and a question selection policy;
• presenting the next question to the user;
• receiving a next answer to the next question;
• updating the state of the conversation thread based on the next answer;
• and
• repeating the selecting, presenting, receiving, and updating until a criterion is satisfied.

A system of building a runtime dialog, comprising:

• a processor;
• a dialog portal operable to execute on the processor and further operable to provide an interface to pose a plurality of questions to a user and receive a corresponding plurality of answers from the user;
• a thread maintenance module operable to maintain a conversation state based on the received answers;
• and
• a question selection module operable to select a next question to pose based on the conversation state, a question selection policy and a dialog repository.