In one aspect, method useful for goal-oriented dialog automation comprising includes the step of receiving an input message. The method includes the step of implementing an entity tagging operation on the input message. The method includes the step of tagging the message context of the input message to generate a tagged message context. The method includes the step of implementing semantic frame extraction from the tagged message context. The method includes the step of implementing an entity interpretation on the extracted frame. The method includes the step of accessing a database to determine a business schedule and a client profile. The business schedule and the client profile are related to the input message. The method includes the step of implementing a retrieval engine. The retrieval engine obtains one or more response templates. The method includes the step of generating a ranked list of candidate templates from the output of the retrieval engine. Based on the output of the entity interpretation, the business schedule and the client profile, and the ranked list of candidate templates, implementing a candidate eliminator. Based on the output of the candidate eliminator, providing a set of recommended responses. Each recommend response is associated with a confidence score.