The rapid growth of AI agents is reshaping the technology landscape, and Cisco’s recent decision to donate the AGNTCY project to the Linux Foundation could be a turning point. This move aims to create a vendor-neutral, open infrastructure that allows AI agents to communicate, manage identities, and interact seamlessly across complex, distributed systems.
Understanding AGNTCY’s Role in Agentic AI
AGNTCY, first developed through Cisco’s Outshift incubator, addresses core challenges in building robust multiagent AI environments. It stands out by offering a set of foundational tools to support agent-to-agent and agent-to-service collaboration.
The framework includes:
- Discovery Layer: Acts like a DNS for agents, supporting efficient agent discovery and connectivity.
- Agent Directory: Provides a central hub for exploring and verifying existing agents and their capabilities.
- Identity Verification: Ensures agents are authenticated and authorized for specific actions, boosting security and trust.
- SLIM Messaging Protocol: Enables secure, low-latency message exchanges between agents, tools, and humans.
- Observability Framework: Delivers insight into agent operations and health across distributed networks.
- Open Agent Schema Framework: Proposes standards for describing agent capabilities and dependencies.
Importantly, AGNTCY does not aim to replace existing agent protocols like Google’s Agent2Agent or Anthropic’s Model Context Protocol. Instead, it fills gaps in infrastructure, lifecycle management, and interoperability, key for scalable, resilient agentic systems.
Building Community Through Industry Collaboration
By joining the Linux Foundation, AGNTCY brings together heavyweights such as Dell, Google Cloud, Oracle, and Red Hat as founding members. The project is also supported by contributors including Galileo, LangChain, MongoDB, Traceloop, Weaviate, and more than 70 other organizations.
This community-driven approach is essential to prevent the AI agent space from fragmenting into isolated vendor silos. Through open standards and transparent governance, the Linux Foundation provides a platform for innovation while ensuring security and interoperability.
As industry leaders align around AGNTCY, there’s momentum toward creating a truly interoperable “internet of agents”, where diverse AI entities can compete, collaborate, and deliver value across boundaries.
Empowering the Internet of Agents
Cisco envisions AGNTCY as the backbone for cloud-native, distributed agent architectures. The framework is designed for the entire agent lifecycle, enabling discovery, identity verification, capability sharing, and real-time observability at scale, much like the internet and SaaS ecosystems that transformed previous technology eras.
By standardizing agent protocols and infrastructure, AGNTCY gives developers the freedom to build AI-driven services that work seamlessly, regardless of vendor or cloud. This commitment to openness is a critical step in realizing the full promise of distributed, autonomous AI entities.
Takeaway: A Unified Path Forward for Agentic AI
Cisco’s transfer of AGNTCY to the Linux Foundation represents more than just open-sourcing technology, it is a strategic investment in the future of collaborative AI. With broad industry support and neutral governance, AGNTCY is poised to become a cornerstone for secure, discoverable, and scalable agentic AI ecosystems. The industry’s collective action signals a clear desire to avoid fragmentation and build an inclusive, interoperable foundation for the next generation of AI agents.
Cisco’s AGNTCY Donation Sets the Stage for an Open, Interoperable Agentic AI Ecosystem