Is the kind of artificial intelligence in Ask Jenn just a gimmick, or has it made business sense for Alaska Airlines?

Successful and accurate communication with our customer's end users, without involving a real person, has big business value. There are tiers of questions that customers ask ? at least 80 percent of them can be answered successfully by an avatar, and when you're dealing with a high volume of customer calls, that can amount to a very big deal. Our virtual employees work 24/7, do not take vacations, and always give consistent answers.

What sort of questions does Jenn get?

Mostly they're about flight schedules, reservations, travel restrictions, the usual stuff, including questions about her personality. Jenn gets smarter as Alaska's customers interact with her, as does her ability to know what customers are asking for, i.e., the way people interact, the words and phrases they use and what their intent is behind the phrases. This human-assisted training process ensures that Jenn can accurately answer Alaska's customers' questions.

How successful has Ask Jenn been?

In the first two weeks alone, there were hundreds of thousands of questions asked. It's a comfortable way for people to interact.

Before Jenn there was Sgt. Star, which you developed for the Army as a marketing tool. Has Ask Sgt. Star (at www.goarmy.com) actually been successful in recruiting?

Sgt. Star's job at the Army is designed to help build interest and awareness of the many jobs and opportunities the Army offers. GoArmy.com contains a lot of content and information about the Army. Sgt. Star greatly helps connect the end user to this information. He more than doubles the time a user spends on the site and the quality of the engagement (what people learn and retain).

Have you had difficulty recruiting the sort of high-tech talent common in Seattle out to Spokane?

Not at all. Our region is host to five major universities: Gonzaga University, Whitworth University, Eastern Washington University, University of Idaho and Washington State University. Next IT is viewed as a growing company developing cuttingedge technology, so we have not come across any challenges in getting talented people who share in our values of doing business. A lot of people grew up here, went away, and now want to come back. Spokane is a great place to live and raise a family.

How big is Next IT?

We're at about 140 employees currently, and we've added 100 in just the last year.

What's next for Next IT?

We are expanding our technology to be accessible over all the channels that customers and business interact [on]. We are also developing improved systems for storing, retrieving and understanding information across the enterprise. The medical industry has a lot of challenges, and we are confident our technology can offer some effective solutions.

You've got an interesting background. What's this about you being a rodeo guy?

Rodeo actually taught me a lot of skills and philosophies that have served me well in my career as an entrepreneur, and in business. The western values and philosophies I learned growing up (trust, honesty, contributing to your clients and keeping your word) are very important to early adopter business success. I also learned the power of the mind: If you believe in something and refuse to lose, you can, and will, make it happen. I once beat the best calf roper in the world in a one-on-one match with a large sum of money on the line. I have always believed that if I can do that, anything is possible.