Inter- Agent Protocols.
Your AI agent can access your database and send emails. Great.
But what happens when it needs to collaborate with other agents to solve complex problems?
That's where inter-agent protocols come in.
Google's A2A (Agent-to-Agent) Protocol: Enterprise Focus
Google has made "enormous noise" about A2A, and for good reason. It's designed for sophisticated enterprise workflows where multiple specialised agents need to work together.
Key Strengths:
Built-in enterprise security
Supports long-running tasks that might take days to complete
Handles multi-modal communication (text, files, audio, video)
Includes proper authentication and governance
Perfect for large enterprises running complex workflows, e.g. financial planning.
Reality Check:
Still in development stage
Complex to implement
Primarily designed for internal enterprise use rather than cross-platform collaboration
IBM's AComP (Agent Communication Protocol): The MCP Evolution
IBM has forked MCP and is evolving it toward inter-agent communication.
The Trade-offs:
Upside: Building on MCP's proven foundation means existing implementations can evolve gradually
Downside: Unclear differentiation from other protocols
ANP (Agent Network Protocol): Internet-Scale Vision
The open-source community's answer to vendor lock-in. ANP aims to create an "Internet of Agents" where any agent can discover and communicate with any other agent, regardless of vendor.
The Big Idea: Break down silos between different AI systems. Your Microsoft agent could collaborate with someone else's Google agent to solve cross-organisational problems.
How It Works:
Uses decentralised identity standards
Focuses on creating network effects - the more agents that join, the more valuable the network becomes
The Challenge: Requires broad industry adoption to be effective. Classic chicken-and-egg problem.
Strategic Choice: Internal vs External
Do you need agents collaborating:
Within your organisation (choose enterprise protocols like A2A)
Across organisational boundaries (monitor ANP development)
Recommendation:
Most businesses should start with proven internal solutions and plan for future external collaboration as standards mature.
Next week: We'll cover the remaining inter-agent protocols, including blockchain approaches and some genuinely innovative ideas about dynamic protocol generation.