Agents Are Evolving: The Next Leap in Intelligent Software
AI agents have rapidly matured from basic chatbots to autonomous systems driving real value in enterprise environments. Today, companies demand not just smarter agents, but also solutions that foster collaboration and interoperability. Microsoft is at the forefront of this transformation, empowering developers and businesses to harness the full potential of agentic applications.
The Rise of Agentic Infrastructure
Over 70,000 organizations now rely on Azure AI Foundry to develop, manage, and scale AI-driven agents. In just months, thousands have adopted the new Agent Service, demonstrating industry momentum toward agent-based architectures. Meanwhile, Microsoft Copilot Studio is helping 230,000+ organizations—including 90% of the Fortune 500—seamlessly deploy copilots and agentic systems.
This widespread adoption signals a shift in how intelligence is embedded into business processes. Agents are no longer confined to isolated apps; they’re becoming fundamental building blocks that act, reason, and adapt across platforms and domains.
Why Open Protocols Like Agent2Agent (A2A) Matter
As agents grow more capable, they must communicate and collaborate with other agents, regardless of vendor or cloud. Microsoft’s commitment to the open Agent2Agent (A2A) protocol addresses this critical need. A2A enables agents to exchange goals, share state, invoke actions, and deliver results—securely and observably—across boundaries.
- Interoperability: Agents built on different frameworks or clouds can work together, breaking down silos and avoiding vendor lock-in.
- Security & Governance: Every agent interaction is protected by enterprise-grade safeguards such as Microsoft Entra, mutual TLS, and Azure AI Content Safety, with full audit trails.
- Flexibility: Developers can use familiar tools like Semantic Kernel or LangChain while seamlessly integrating with external agents.
Delivering Real Benefits for Enterprises and Developers
With A2A support, Azure AI Foundry customers can build complex, multi-agent workflows that span internal and external systems while maintaining robust governance and service-level agreements. Copilot Studio users gain the power to securely invoke agents built on other platforms or even hosted outside Microsoft’s ecosystem.
For enterprises, this means access to composable, intelligent systems that scale across organizational and cloud boundaries. Microsoft’s contributions to A2A also accelerate industry-wide adoption of shared agent protocols, fostering a collaborative agent ecosystem that benefits everyone.
Openness and Trust at the Core
Microsoft’s vision is clear: empower both professional and citizen developers to build interoperable agentic solutions without sacrificing security or compliance. By aligning with open standards and collaborating in industry working groups, Microsoft ensures that agentic systems remain open, observable, and adaptive—never isolated or proprietary.
Trust is foundational. Azure AI Foundry is built with safety and compliance as first principles, ensuring that as agent ecosystems expand, they do so responsibly and transparently.
What’s Next for Agentic Applications
Agentic computing represents a fundamental shift in the way software is built and used. Microsoft has joined the A2A working group on GitHub to help shape the future of agent interoperability. A public preview of A2A support is coming soon to both Azure AI Foundry and Copilot Studio, paving the way for more connected, intelligent, and resilient software solutions.
The agentic future will see the best agents operating across clouds, domains, and applications—enabling new modes of collaboration and innovation. Microsoft is committed to advancing open protocols like A2A and Model Context Protocol (MCP), ensuring developers have the tools and frameworks needed to build for this new era.
Getting Started and Learning More
Developers interested in hands-on experimentation can explore the new Semantic Kernel A2A sample, which demonstrates multi-agent collaboration using Python. This example highlights how agents can work together on tasks like travel planning and currency conversion, all without custom orchestration code.
Empowering the Next Generation of Intelligent Agent Apps with Open Protocols