Mechanisms for selecting a pipeline of a question and answer (QA) system to process an input question are provided. An input question is received and analyzed to identify at least one feature of the input question. Clustering of the input question, with one or more previously generated clusters of questions, is performed based on the at least one feature of the input question. Based on results of the clustering, a matching cluster, of the one or more previously generated clusters, is identified with which the input question is associated. A QA system pipeline associated with the matching cluster is identified and the input question is processed using the identified QA system pipeline to generate one or more candidate answers for the input question. Each cluster in the one or more previously generated clusters has an associated QA system pipeline.