Semantic Routing
Definition
Using natural language understanding to dynamically route user requests to the most appropriate AI agent, model, or tool based on intent classification.
Why It Matters
Key Takeaways
- 1.Semantic Routing is a core concept for modern business and technology strategy
- 2.Practical application requires combining theory with data-driven experimentation
- 3.Understanding this concept helps teams make better technology and growth decisions
Real-World Examples
Applied semantic routing to achieve competitive advantages.
Growth Relevance
Semantic Routing directly impacts growth by influencing how companies acquire, activate, and retain customers.
Ehsan's Insight
Semantic routing uses natural language understanding to direct queries to the right handler — replacing keyword-based routing with intent-based routing. A user asking "how do I cancel?" and "I want to stop my subscription" and "this is not working, get rid of it" all route to the cancellation handler despite sharing zero keywords. The accuracy of semantic routing versus keyword routing: 92% versus 71% on real customer support queries in a study I reviewed. Implementation: embed a set of example queries for each handler, embed the incoming query, and route to the handler with the highest cosine similarity. The entire system can be built in a day using OpenAI embeddings and cosine distance.
Ehsan Jahandarpour
AI Growth Strategist & Fractional CMO
Forbes Top 20 Growth Hacker · TEDx Speaker · 716 Academic Citations · Ex-Microsoft · CMO at FirstWave (ASX:FCT) · Forbes Communications Council