The Internet of Agents Vijoy Pandey, Ph.D January 22, 2025 4. How do we build the Internet of Agents Like the two other internets before (Internet and Cloud Internet), the Internet of Agents will be built on three interconnected layers, each serving a distinct but essential purpose, with 19 a proverbial “waist” — 1. AI-native Agentic Applications: This layer encompasses the full spectrum of agentic appli- cations—from business workflow automation to scientific discovery to social interaction. Think of it like a movie production, where specialized teams (writers, actors, cinematographers, editors) collaborate to create something greater than any individual could achieve. Similarly, AI agents will specialize and collaborate across domains, from software development to drug discovery to embodied agentic robotic workflows, etc. 2. Agent Communication Platform: This is the proverbial waist of this new internet. This layer provides the fundamental protocols and standards for how AI agents discover, authenticate, and interact with each other. Like TCP/IP for the original internet, these open standards must enable any agent to seamlessly participate in the network, regardless of its creator or purpose for both Hardware and SaaS products. 3. AI and Quantum-Safe Infrastructure: This foundational layer delivers the secure, scalable infrastructure that enables all AI agent interactions. It combines high-performance computing and networking with quantum-resistant security built in from the ground up. Through quantum networking capabilities and advanced security protocols, this layer ensures that agent com- munications remain protected against both current and future quantum threats. This proactive approach to quantum safety creates a trusted foundation for the entire agent ecosystem to build upon. Figure 6: Net-new products need to be built for the purple (Internet of Agents) layer, and existing products need to be extended for the blue (Internet) layer, driving a refresh across our portfolio Figure 7: The three planes of the Internet of Agents with the proverbial “waist” 19 The waist is a layer of abstraction to simplify K x M x N x .. interactions through a common layer, also known as the Perl- is-Thomson principle. It used to be “IP” in the Internet, moved up to “HTTPS/gRPC/Open API” in the Cloud Internet. ©2025 Outshift by Cisco and/or its afÏliates. All rights reserved. 10