What is A2A: Unlocking the Future of Collaborative AI
Why is A2A Technology Crucial?
Communication Silo Problem
As AI agents become more widely used in enterprises, communication silos have formed between agents developed by different vendors, making it difficult for them to work together. This has become a core obstacle to the in-depth development of enterprise AI.
A2A Solution
The Agent2Agent (A2A) protocol was proposed precisely to address this pain point. It provides a common "language" that allows heterogeneous AI agents to collaborate seamlessly, unleashing the immense potential of multi-agent workflows.
In-depth Technical Analysis
Delve into the Agent2Agent (A2A) protocol and its ecosystem of technical partners.
Agent2Agent (A2A) Protocol: Unlocking the Future of Collaborative AI
The Agent2Agent (A2A) protocol is a strategic initiative launched by Google Cloud, aimed at building an open and interoperable AI agent ecosystem. In the face of potentially isolated agent approaches emerging in the market, A2A offers a different path. Since its release, the protocol has quickly gathered over 50 technical partners, covering a wide range from large enterprise software vendors to specialized AI companies and system integrators. This not only demonstrates the urgent industry need for such standards but also highlights Google's ecosystem-centric development strategy. The emergence of A2A signifies a move towards a more collaborative and efficient future for enterprise AI applications.
Core Principles and Technical Architecture of A2A
The design of the A2A protocol adheres to several core principles, including embracing natural agent capabilities, building on existing standards, implementing enterprise-grade security by default, supporting long-running tasks, and maintaining modality independence. In terms of technical architecture, A2A is an open protocol that utilizes widely adopted web technologies, such as HTTP(S)-based JSON-RPC 2.0 as its core communication method.
Capability Discovery
Achieved through "agent cards," which are like machine-readable "resumes" for agents, helping other agents decide whether to interact with them.
Task Management
Defines the lifecycle of tasks, allowing for task assignment, tracking, and updates between agents, and natively supports long-running tasks.
Inter-agent Collaboration
Achieved by sharing context and instructions, with messages as the core unit of exchange, which can contain various data types.
Standardized Authentication Mechanism
Introduces an authentication scheme based on OpenAPI schemas, ensuring the security and reliability of cross-agent interactions.
A2A's Position in the Vertex AI Agent Builder Ecosystem
The A2A protocol is a key component of Google Cloud's broader AI strategy, particularly within the Vertex AI Agent Builder ecosystem. Vertex AI Agent Builder is a comprehensive suite designed to help developers easily build, deploy, and manage enterprise-grade generative AI applications and agents. It primarily includes the following components:
- Agent Development Kit (ADK): An open-source framework that simplifies the process of building complex multi-agent systems.
- Agent Garden: A library of example agents and tools to help developers accelerate their development process.
- Agent Tools: A set of tools available for ADK agents, including Google Search, RAG Engine, etc.
- Vertex AI Agent Engine: A fully managed runtime environment for deploying, managing, and scaling agents in production.
Synergy and Differences between A2A and Model Context Protocol (MCP)
A2A and MCP are not competing, but rather complementary. A typical scenario might be an agent accessing external data via MCP, then collaborating with another agent specialized in handling that type of data via A2A, to collectively complete more complex tasks.
A2A (Horizontal Integration)
Focuses on direct communication and collaboration between different AI agents.
MCP (Vertical Integration)
Primarily focuses on connecting AI agents with external tools and data sources.
A2A Key Partner Directory
| Partner | Primary Role/Category | Key Contribution/Solution |
|---|---|---|
| Accenture | System Integrator/Service Partner, A2A Protocol Contributor, AI Agent Marketplace Provider | Provides approved AI agent solutions and offers agents via AI Agent Marketplace, actively contributing to and supporting A2A protocol implementation. Solution example: transforming customer support with virtual assistants. |
| AI21 Labs | OSS & Foundational Model Provider | Its models (e.g., OLMo, Tulu) are available via Vertex AI Model Garden, providing third-party model options for Vertex AI. |
| Amdocs (amAIz Suite) | AI Agent Marketplace Provider, Enterprise Platform & Data Integration Partner | Offers amAIz Suite agents via AI Agent Marketplace; amAIz agents leverage Vertex AI and Gemini to provide AI solutions for the telecommunications industry. |
| Anthropic | OSS & Foundational Model Provider | Claude 3 models are generally available on Vertex AI; its MCP protocol complements A2A, offering advanced AI models. |
| Apigee (Google Cloud) | Google Cloud Tool | APIs managed through Apigee API Hub are available for agents to connect, enabling agents to connect to enterprise custom APIs. |
| Application Integration (Google Cloud) | Google Cloud Tool | Supports custom integration via Application Integration, providing agents with custom integration paths to enterprise systems. |
| Arize AI | Professional AI Tool & Framework Provider (AI Observability), A2A Protocol Contributor | A2A launch partner; provides observability solutions for AI agents, integrating with ADK and Agent Engine to help build and deploy observable AI agents. |
| Arm | Infrastructure & Hardware Partner | Google's Axion custom CPUs are based on Arm architecture, providing core chip architecture for Google Cloud AI infrastructure. |
| Articul8 AI | A2A Protocol Contributor, Professional AI Tool & Framework Provider | A2A launch partner; integrates its ModelMesh™ (“agent of agents”) with A2A, committed to achieving enterprise-grade AI interoperability and composability. |
| ask-ai.com | A2A Protocol Contributor | A2A launch partner; committed to AI interoperability and seamless agent collaboration, focusing on enterprise AI customer experience. |
| Atlassian | A2A Protocol Contributor, Enterprise Platform & Data Integration Partner | A2A launch partner; its Rovo agents will benefit from A2A standards, promoting discovery, coordination, and reasoning among agents. |
| Auth0 | A2A Protocol Contributor | Supports A2A and has released an open-source agent example demonstrating how to use A2A and Auth0 for remote agent authentication. |
| Bain & Company | System Integrator/Service Partner | Provides approved AI agent solutions. Helps SEB Wealth Management improve customer conversation efficiency with AI agents. |
| BCG (Boston Consulting Group) | System Integrator/Service Partner, A2A Protocol Contributor | Provides approved AI agent solutions; actively contributes to and supports A2A protocol implementation, offering sales optimization tools. |
| BigCommerce | AI Agent Marketplace Provider, Enterprise Platform & Data Integration Partner | Offers agents via AI Agent Marketplace; enhances its e-commerce platform with Vertex AI, providing AI-driven e-commerce functionalities. |
| Box | A2A Protocol Contributor, Enterprise Platform & Data Integration Partner | A2A launch partner; Box AI agents will collaborate with external agents via A2A, enabling content in Box to be operated and collaborated on. |
| C3 AI | Professional AI Tool & Framework Provider (Enterprise AI Applications) | Its enterprise AI applications can run on Google Cloud and integrate with Vertex AI, providing industry-specific, enterprise-grade AI applications. |
| Capgemini | System Integrator/Service Partner, A2A Protocol Contributor | Provides approved AI agent solutions; actively contributes to and supports A2A protocol implementation, optimizing e-commerce experiences. |
| Cognizant | System Integrator/Service Partner, A2A Protocol Contributor, AI Agent Marketplace Provider | Provides approved AI agent solutions; offers agents via the agent marketplace; supports A2A implementation, helping legal teams draft contracts. |
| Cohere | OSS & Foundational Model Provider, A2A Protocol Contributor | A2A launch partner; its models can be used to build agents, providing large language models to support A2A interoperability. |
| Confluent | Enterprise Platform & Data Integration Partner | Its data streaming platform integrates with Vertex AI and Gemini models, providing data streaming support for real-time AI, machine learning, and advanced analytics. |
| DataStax | Enterprise Platform & Data Integration Partner (Database) | Astra DB integrates with Vertex AI for GenAI and vector search, providing real-time vector data to support GenAI applications. |
| Datadog | Professional AI Tool & Framework Provider (Observability), A2A Protocol Contributor | A2A launch partner; provides LLM observability for Gemini and Vertex AI LLMs, helping monitor, troubleshoot, and secure LLM applications and agents. |
| Deloitte | System Integrator/Service Partner, A2A Protocol Contributor, AI Agent Marketplace Provider | Provides approved AI agent solutions; offers agents via the agent marketplace; supports A2A implementation, offering a “Care Finder” agent. |
| Elastic | A2A Protocol Contributor, AI Agent Marketplace Provider, Enterprise Platform & Data Integration Partner | A2A launch partner; offers agents via AI Agent Marketplace, providing search and analytics capabilities. |
| Google Search | Google Cloud Tool | Can be used to enhance the truthfulness and accuracy of agent responses, providing agents with fresh, high-quality information sources. |
| HCLTech | System Integrator/Service Partner, A2A Protocol Contributor, AI Agent Marketplace Provider | Provides approved AI agent solutions; offers agents via the agent marketplace; supports A2A implementation, providing a manufacturing quality agent (Insight). |
| Incorta | A2A Protocol Contributor, Professional AI Tool & Framework Provider | Early A2A partner; launched an intelligent accounts payable agent for Agentspace, integrating its open data delivery platform with A2A. |
| Infosys | System Integrator/Service Partner, A2A Protocol Contributor | Provides approved AI agent solutions; supports A2A implementation, optimizing digital marketplaces and providing insights like inventory planning. |
| Intel | Infrastructure & Hardware Partner | Provides server-grade CPUs to Google, supplying computing hardware for Google data centers. |
| Intuit | A2A Protocol Contributor, Enterprise Platform & Data Integration Partner | A2A launch partner, supports A2A protocol, promoting interoperability of its platform agents. |
| LangChain | Professional AI Tool & Framework Provider, A2A Protocol Contributor | A2A launch partner; serves as a core open-source agent building framework, deeply integrated with Google Cloud. |
| Microsoft | (A2A Supporter) | Announced support for building A2A agents in Azure AI Foundry and for calling A2A agents from Microsoft Copilot Studio, expanding A2A's industry reach. |
| MongoDB | Enterprise Platform & Data Integration Partner (Database), A2A Protocol Contributor | A2A launch partner; integrates with Vertex AI Agent Engine for RAG, providing NoSQL database and vector search capabilities. |
| NetApp | Enterprise Platform & Data Integration Partner, A2A Protocol Contributor | Integrates with Vertex AI platform, allowing data in its NetApp Volumes to be used to build agents without data replication. |
| Nvidia | Infrastructure & Hardware Partner | Google Cloud partners with Nvidia to provide GPUs (H100, Blackwell GB200), supplying critical accelerator hardware for AI workloads. |
| Oracle | Enterprise Platform & Data Integration Partner, A2A Protocol Contributor | A2A partner; its data platform can be used to enhance agents, supporting A2A, allowing its platform data to be used by AI agents. |
| PayPal | A2A Protocol Contributor, Enterprise Platform & Data Integration Partner | A2A launch partner, supports A2A protocol, promoting interoperability of its platform agents. |
| PwC (PricewaterhouseCoopers) | System Integrator/Service Partner, A2A Protocol Contributor | Provides approved AI agent solutions; supports A2A implementation, helping oncology clinics streamline administrative tasks with AI agent technology. |
| Salesforce | Enterprise Platform & Data Integration Partner, A2A Protocol Contributor | A2A launch partner; Agentforce is deeply integrated with Gemini and Vertex AI, jointly driving enterprise-grade agentic AI. |
| SAP | Enterprise Platform & Data Integration Partner, A2A Protocol Contributor | A2A launch partner; Joule integrates with Gemini via Vertex AI, combining its enterprise applications and data with Google Cloud AI capabilities. |
| ServiceNow | Enterprise Platform & Data Integration Partner, A2A Protocol Contributor | A2A launch partner; its platform can be used to enhance agents, supports A2A, allowing its workflows and data to be interoperable. |
| TCS (Tata Consultancy Services) | System Integrator/Service Partner, A2A Protocol Contributor | Provides approved AI agent solutions; supports A2A implementation, helping build role-based AI agents to accelerate software development. |
| Typeface | AI Agent Marketplace Provider, Professional AI Tool & Framework Provider, A2A Protocol Contributor | Offers agents via AI Agent Marketplace; provides brand-personalized AI content generation, deeply integrated with the Google ecosystem. |
| UiPath | AI Agent Marketplace Provider, A2A Protocol Contributor | Offers agents via AI Agent Marketplace; A2A launch partner, combining its automation platform with Google Cloud AI agent capabilities. |
| UKG (Ultimate Kronos Group) | A2A Protocol Contributor, Enterprise Platform & Data Integration Partner | A2A launch partner, supports A2A, promoting interoperability of its HCM and workforce management agents. |
| VMware | AI Agent Marketplace Provider | Offers agents via AI Agent Marketplace, supporting running and managing applications on Google Cloud and extending to the AI agent domain. |
| Weights & Biases | Professional AI Tool & Framework Provider (MLOps), A2A Protocol Contributor | A2A launch partner; provides an MLOps platform, supporting AI agent development and experiment tracking. |
| Wipro | System Integrator/Service Partner, A2A Protocol Contributor, AI Agent Marketplace Provider | Provides approved AI agent solutions; offers agents via the agent marketplace; supports A2A implementation, supporting national healthcare providers using agent technology. |
| Workday | A2A Protocol Contributor, Enterprise Platform & Data Integration Partner | A2A launch partner, supports A2A, promoting interoperability of its financial and human capital management agents. |
| Zoom | (A2A Supporter) | Announced support for A2A and Agentspace integration, promoting multi-agent collaboration on its platform. |