A method and apparatus for managing agent interactions with customers of an enterprise are disclosed. The method includes generating a value representative of an emotional state of a customer engaged in an ongoing interaction with a virtual agent (VA) associated with the enterprise. The value is generated based, at least in part, on one or more inputs provided by the customer during the ongoing interaction. The value is compared with a predefined emotional threshold range to determine whether the emotional state of the customer is a non-neutral state. The ongoing interaction is deflected to one of a human agent and a specialized VA capable of empathetically handling the ongoing interaction if it is determined that the emotional state of the customer is the non-neutral state.