Google Announces Agent2Agent (A2A) Protocol to Enable Secure AI Agent Interoperability

/ AI, Cloud, Google Cloud Next 2025
Google Announces Agent2Agent (A2A) Protocol to Enable Secure AI Agent Interoperability

The News:

Google has officially launched the Agent2Agent (A2A) protocol—an open, secure framework designed to enable interoperability between AI agents across different frameworks, vendors, and enterprise platforms. Supported by more than 50 leading technology and service partners, A2A provides standardized mechanisms for agent collaboration, communication, and task management across distributed systems. Read the full post here.

Analysis:

According to industry analysts, by 2026, 80% of enterprises will use AI agents in some capacity—but only 30% will achieve system-level interoperability without a standardized protocol. A2A changes this trajectory by offering a unified, open-source framework for agent collaboration, built with security, context-awareness, and composability in mind.

Google’s approach—with contributions from partners across software, services, and infrastructure—lays the groundwork for a new AI-native enterprise stack where agents don’t just coexist—they collaborate, adapt, and scale in real time.

The Growing Demand for Agent Collaboration

As enterprises shift toward AI-native operations, the emergence of multi-agent systems is redefining how tasks, workflows, and knowledge are distributed across organizations. According to industry experts, 70% of businesses deploying AI today anticipate using agentic architectures within the next two years. However, current agent frameworks often operate in silos, limiting scalability and collaboration.

A2A is a foundational move to address this gap, enabling AI agents to discover capabilities, communicate tasks, negotiate UI formats, and share memory—even across different platforms and development ecosystems.

Strategic Positioning of Google Cloud and A2A

Google Cloud is asserting leadership in shaping open agent interoperability standards. By positioning A2A as the “HTTP for AI agents,” the protocol introduces a unified abstraction for agent-to-agent interaction, similar to how APIs revolutionized software development. It complements Anthropic’s Model Context Protocol (MCP), creating a robust foundation for agent grounding and orchestration.

Past Challenges with Proprietary Agent Systems

Developers and enterprises have historically faced challenges in building cohesive multi-agent workflows due to disparate toolchains, incompatible protocols, and closed vendor ecosystems. Integrating agents across domains like HR, IT, customer support, and finance often required extensive custom engineering.

A2A solves these pain points with:

  • Open standards: Built on HTTP, SSE, JSON-RPC for easy integration
  • Security-first design: Enterprise-grade authentication and authorization
  • Flexible modality support: Designed for text, video, audio, and UI interactivity
  • Support for long-running tasks: Asynchronous task tracking with real-time status and artifact sharing

Industry Collaboration at Scale

A2A’s launch includes support from major cloud, SaaS, and enterprise software providers, including Salesforce, SAP, Atlassian, MongoDB, Elastic, PayPal, and ServiceNow. These organizations are aligning around a shared vision of interoperable agent ecosystems.

Meanwhile, service integrators like Deloitte, Accenture, EPAM, and Wipro are readying A2A-powered implementations for clients across domains ranging from supply chain automation to employee onboarding.

Looking Ahead:

A New Foundation for AI Workflows

A2A is more than just a technical protocol—it represents a paradigm shift in how AI systems collaborate. Expect rapid ecosystem growth around:

  • Agent marketplaces and registries
  • Composable workflows with interoperable agents
  • Domain-specific agent agents (e.g., legal, finance, marketing)
  • Simulated agent testing environments

Google’s investment in open specifications, real-world code samples, and partner-led innovation ensures that A2A will serve as the default coordination layer for enterprise agents.

Enterprise Use Cases Already Emerging

Case studies from partners like Revionics (automated pricing workflows) and Renault (EV infrastructure optimization) show how A2A can be used to build modular agent systems that plug into existing cloud infrastructure, enterprise APIs, and data lakes.

In hiring, for instance, agents can now collaborate to source, screen, schedule, and validate candidates—delivering intelligent task handoffs without human intervention.

Author

  • Paul Nashawaty, Practice Leader and Lead Principal Analyst, specializes in application modernization across build, release and operations. With a wealth of expertise in digital transformation initiatives spanning front-end and back-end systems, he also possesses comprehensive knowledge of the underlying infrastructure ecosystem crucial for supporting modernization endeavors. With over 25 years of experience, Paul has a proven track record in implementing effective go-to-market strategies, including the identification of new market channels, the growth and cultivation of partner ecosystems, and the successful execution of strategic plans resulting in positive business outcomes for his clients.

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