Three Standards, Three Problems
The AI Agent Interoperability Forum (AAIF) has converged on three complementary standards for enterprise AI agents. Each solves a different problem:
| Standard | Problem | What It Does |
|---|---|---|
| AGENTS.md | Identity | Declares what agents can do, what permissions they need, and how they should be governed |
| MCP | Tool Connectivity | Connects agents to external tools and data sources via a standardized protocol |
| A2A | Coordination | Enables agents to discover capabilities, delegate tasks, and synchronize state across platforms |
Think of it like the web stack: HTML defines content (identity), HTTP connects clients to servers (connectivity), and WebSockets enable real-time coordination. You need all three.
AGENTS.md: The Identity Layer
AGENTS.md is a machine-readable file that declares an agent’s capabilities, permissions, and governance requirements. It answers the questions:
- What can this agent do?
- What data does it need access to?
- What approval policies apply?
- Which department does it belong to?
- What autonomy level should it have?
Without AGENTS.md, agents are opaque. An enterprise deploying 50 agents across 20 departments has no standardized way to inventory them, audit their capabilities, or enforce governance policies.
JieGou’s implementation: Generate, parse, and export AGENTS.md for chat agents, workflows, and departments. Each department can produce its own AGENTS.md declaring the agents operating within it, their tools, and their governance rules.
MCP: The Tool Connectivity Layer
The Model Context Protocol (MCP) standardizes how AI agents connect to external tools and data sources. Instead of building custom integrations for every tool, an agent speaks MCP to a server that exposes tool capabilities.
MCP has reached critical mass:
- Microsoft Copilot Studio supports MCP
- n8n exposes workflows as MCP servers
- 100+ platforms have announced MCP support
- The protocol covers tool discovery, invocation, and result handling
JieGou’s implementation: 245 certified MCP servers with 3-tier certification:
- Community: Open-source, community-maintained
- Verified: Tested, documented, security-reviewed
- Enterprise: SLA-backed, SOC 2 compliant, audit-logged
This isn’t just “we support MCP.” It’s a governed MCP marketplace where every server is certified, sandboxed, and monitored.
A2A: The Coordination Layer
The Agent-to-Agent (A2A) protocol enables agents to discover each other’s capabilities, delegate tasks, and synchronize state — across vendor boundaries. Without A2A, agents are isolated islands.
A2A has massive enterprise backing:
- Salesforce, Google, ServiceNow, SAP, PayPal, Samsung are among 100+ supporters
- Google contributed the initial specification
- The protocol covers agent discovery, task delegation, and state synchronization
JieGou’s implementation: Full A2A support as host (exposing agents), consumer (discovering and delegating to external agents), and registry (maintaining a catalog of available agents and their capabilities).
Why All Three Matter Together
Each protocol alone is insufficient:
| Missing Protocol | Consequence |
|---|---|
| Without AGENTS.md | Agents can connect and coordinate, but can’t declare their identity or governance requirements. No standardized inventory. |
| Without MCP | Agents can identify themselves and coordinate, but can’t access external tools. Every integration is custom. |
| Without A2A | Agents can identify themselves and use tools, but can’t discover or coordinate with other agents. Every agent is an island. |
The three protocols form a complete agent architecture:
- AGENTS.md declares “here’s what I am and what I need”
- MCP enables “here’s what I can access”
- A2A enables “here’s who I can work with”
The Competitive Gap
We surveyed protocol support across 8 platforms:
| Platform | AGENTS.md | MCP | A2A |
|---|---|---|---|
| JieGou | Full | Full (245 servers) | Full (host + consumer + registry) |
| Salesforce | No | No | Native |
| Microsoft | No | Copilot Studio | Partial |
| No | API Registry | Native | |
| n8n | No | Server exposure | No |
| CrewAI | No | Basic | Task execution |
| Zapier | No | No | No |
| Make | No | No | No |
Key observations:
- JieGou is the only platform with full support for all three protocols
- Enterprise incumbents (Salesforce, Google) support A2A but not AGENTS.md or MCP marketplace
- Automation incumbents (Zapier, Make) support none of the three
- Developer frameworks (CrewAI) have partial support
Standards Compliance as Procurement Advantage
AAIF membership is growing rapidly. Members include Salesforce, SAP, PayPal, Samsung, and dozens of other enterprise vendors. This signals that:
-
Standards compliance will become a procurement requirement. Just as SOC 2 became a checkbox for SaaS procurement, AAIF compliance is becoming a checkbox for AI agent procurement.
-
Interoperability will be expected. Enterprises will expect their agent platforms to work with each other via standardized protocols, not proprietary integrations.
-
First-movers have an advantage. Platforms that achieve triple-protocol compliance now will be positioned as the interoperability leaders when enterprise procurement catches up.
What This Means for Your Architecture
If you’re evaluating agent platforms, add protocol support to your criteria:
- Does the platform support AGENTS.md? Can you export a machine-readable description of your agents for inventory and governance?
- Does the platform support MCP? Is there a certified tool marketplace, or just raw protocol support?
- Does the platform support A2A? Can your agents discover and coordinate with agents from other vendors?
- Are all three unified? Or do you need separate systems for identity, connectivity, and coordination?
See JieGou’s triple-protocol support in action:
- Standards Compliance page — full protocol comparison matrix
- MCP Marketplace — 245 certified servers with 3-tier certification
- Start Enterprise Trial — test all three protocols in your environment