A2A
A2A, or the Agent-to-Agent Protocol, is an open protocol designed to let AI agents communicate, exchange information, and coordinate actions across systems. Its purpose is to enable interoperability between agents, especially when those agents come from different tools, vendors, or environments.
As more specialized agents emerge, they need to work together. One agent might handle purchasing, another bookings, another document analysis, and another internal approvals. Without a common protocol, every integration has to be custom-built.
What it's for
- Capability discovery between agents.
- Message exchange.
- Task coordination.
- Work delegation.
- Status tracking.
- Communication between agents from different vendors.
- Multi-agent workflows within organizations.
Difference from MCP
| Protocol | Question it answers |
|---|---|
| MCP | How does an AI application connect to tools, data, or resources? |
| A2A | How do agents communicate and coordinate with one another? |
MCP focuses on connecting agents to tools. A2A focuses on connecting agents to other agents.
Use in agile teams
In agile teams, A2A should still be treated as emerging infrastructure. It can be relevant for organizations that integrate several specialized agents: product, code, QA, documentation, support, or analysis agents.
But adopting multi-agent setups just for sophistication's sake is a mistake. If a simple flow with one tool, one prompt, and human review works better, you don't need A2A.
Risks
- Errors propagated between agents.
- Loss of traceability.
- Excessive permissions.
- Coordination that is hard to audit.
- High cost.
- Distributed decisions with no clear owner.
- Prompt injection between agents.
- Unnecessary complexity.
Accountability remains human. Two agents coordinating with each other doesn't mean the team can stop supervising.
Common error
Don't mistake interoperability for maturity. Several agents being able to communicate doesn't mean the system is any better. A2A only adds value when coordination between agents solves a real problem and comes with permissions, traceability, success criteria, and human review in place.
Resources
🏦 Harness EngineeringSkill Arena · Scrum Manager
References
- Google Developers Blog. (2025). “Announcing the Agent2Agent Protocol (A2A)”, Google.
- A2A Project. (2025). “Agent2Agent Protocol”, GitHub.
See also
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