AGNTCY: The Next-Gen Secure AI Platform Transforming Agentic AI

If you’re working in the AI space, you’ve probably already heard of the Model Context Protocol (MCP). You’re also likely familiar with Google’s Agent to Agent (A2A) protocol. But there’s one more tool that should be on your radar: AGNTCY. Originally developed by Cisco, AGNTCY is a platform designed to provide the infrastructure AI agents need for discovery, communication, identity verification, and observability. In doing so, it fills in key security gaps in current inter-agent communication protocols like MCP. That, in turn, can help give enterprises the confidence they need to press ahead with more complex agentic AI deployments. So, it’s kind of a big deal. The project was recently open-sourced and now sits under the Linux Foundation’s collaborative umbrella. In addition to Cisco, Dell Technologies, Google Cloud, Oracle, and Red Hat are working on AGNTCY as formative members of the project group.

How AGNTCY Works

It’s worth noting that AGNTCY isn’t a replacement for MCP or A2A. Vijoy Pandey, SVP of Outshift at Cisco, told Fierce Network that AGNTCY is actually interoperable with both protocols as well as the Secure Low Latency Interactive Messaging (SLIM) protocol. That’s all on the communication and discovery side of the house. Perhaps more importantly, though, AGNTCY brings security tools to bear in the agent-to-agent space. As Fierce noted previously, one of the key issues with MCP is that it lacks robust authentication and security features.

“Agents have human-like attributes but they operate at machine speed and scale. Everything that you’ve built so far has been built either for humans or machines,” Pandey said, explaining the problem agentic AI poses for security.

Among other things, AGNTCY provides cryptographically verifiable identities so that enterprises can ensure their agents are communicating with reputable outside agents. Then there are access controls to ensure the AI agents can only tap into the resources they need, when they need them. And if you read our recent piece on the role of access controls in mitigating enterprise security risks, you know this is important. As Pandey explained, to keep AI agents in line, enterprises need to be able to grant and retract access authority at a task level. That’s already non-trivial to do but Pandey noted that even defining what constitutes a task can be hard.

“Those are two simple things that you take for granted that become complicated in an agentic environment,” Pandey said. “So, building out an identity framework and a service that, for example, deals with TBAC – task based access control – is something that we are doing through AGNTCY.”

Then there’s observability and evaluation, he said. AGNTCY is building tools that can help track whether agents are doing what they’re supposed to do and assign a reputation score for their performance.

What’s Next

Going forward, AGNTCY’s direction will be determined by a steering committee comprised of individuals from the project’s formative member companies. But Pandey said he expects a strong focus on security, identity, and trust.

“You’ll see a lot of focus going in that direction as the one burning thing that as a community we need to solve…for enterprises to embrace multi-agentic and agentic applications,” he said.

Indeed, Oracle’s SVP of AI and ML Roger Barga said in a press release accompanying the Linux Foundation announcement that “Enterprise customers need agent infrastructure they can trust for mission-critical workloads.” Pandey concluded with a call to action, urging interested contributors, users, and developers to step up to the plate to help push AGNTCY forward. You can learn more about the project at agntcy.org.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

About AGNTCY and its purpose

Q: What is AGNTCY? A: AGNTCY is a platform developed to provide the essential infrastructure for AI agents, enabling them to discover, communicate, verify identities, and be observed. Q: What problem does AGNTCY aim to solve? A: AGNTCY addresses key security gaps in existing inter-agent communication protocols like MCP, which often lack robust authentication and security features. This aims to build confidence for enterprises deploying complex agentic AI systems. Q: Is AGNTCY a replacement for MCP or A2A protocols? A: No, AGNTCY is designed to be interoperable with protocols like MCP and A2A, as well as others like SLIM, focusing on communication, discovery, and importantly, security.

Security and Functionality

Q: What specific security features does AGNTCY offer? A: AGNTCY provides cryptographically verifiable identities, allowing enterprises to ensure agents are communicating with reputable entities. It also implements access controls to manage resource access for AI agents and task-based access control (TBAC). Q: How does AGNTCY handle identity verification for AI agents? A: It provides cryptographically verifiable identities, enabling enterprises to trust the agents they are interacting with. Q: What is task-based access control (TBAC) in the context of AGNTCY? A: TBAC is a mechanism AGNTCY is developing to grant and retract access authority for AI agents at a task level, which is crucial for maintaining control in agentic environments. Q: What role does observability play in AGNTCY? A: AGNTCY is building tools for observability to help track agent performance and determine if they are fulfilling their intended functions, potentially assigning reputation scores.

Project Status and Governance

Q: Who is behind the development of AGNTCY? A: AGNTCY was originally developed by Cisco and is now an open-source project under the Linux Foundation. Formative members include Dell Technologies, Google Cloud, Oracle, and Red Hat. Q: How is the future direction of AGNTCY determined? A: The project's direction is guided by a steering committee composed of individuals from its formative member companies, with a strong expected focus on security, identity, and trust.

Crypto Market AI's Take

The advent of platforms like AGNTCY signifies a crucial step forward in the secure and reliable deployment of agentic AI. In the rapidly evolving landscape of artificial intelligence, particularly where AI agents interact and perform tasks autonomously, robust security and verifiable identity are paramount. This directly aligns with the challenges and opportunities we explore in our content regarding the integration of AI in financial markets. Our focus on AI agents in trading highlights the need for secure, efficient, and trustworthy systems that can manage complex operations. AGNTCY's emphasis on identity verification and access control addresses critical security concerns that are also relevant to the safe operation of AI-powered trading bots and financial analysis tools within the crypto space.

AGNTCY is the next big AI platform you’ve never heard of