A method and associated systems provide real-time response to a request received from a real-time system like a self-driving vehicle or a device that communicates interactively with its environment. The response is selected from a set of candidate feasible responses by a group of computerized agents that each sort the feasible responses in order of that agent's specific preferences, based on that agent's particular priorities or expertise. The agents then reconcile their differences through an iterative procedure. During each iteration, each agent decides whether to retain its current preferences or to adopt the preferences of another agent. This decision is made by determining which preferences are most similar to that agent's own initial preferences, and by which preferences would be most useful in helping to achieve that agent's particular goals. When the agents reach consensus, the group's most-preferred response is returned quickly enough to provide real-time, interactive response.