The push for AI agent teamwork reached new heights this week as tech giants and startups rolled out tools to help these systems work together. Microsoft made waves by adopting Google’s A2A protocol, a technical standard that lets AI agents from different platforms share data and tasks seamlessly. This means agents built using Microsoft’s Azure AI Foundry or Copilot Studio can now collaborate with external systems, breaking down walls between competing tech ecosystems. A Microsoft blog stated: *“The most effective agents will function seamlessly across workflows, models, and ecosystems”*.

IBM joined the movement by launching watsonx Orchestrate at its Think 2025 conference. The platform claims to let businesses build AI agents in under five minutes using 150+ prebuilt agents and integrations with popular tools like Salesforce and SAP. This addresses a key challenge—only 25% of AI projects currently meet their goals due to fragmented systems.

Security got smarter with TufinMate, a U.S.-based AI agent showcased at RSAC 2025. It allows network engineers to manage complex firewall configurations through simple Slack or Microsoft Teams conversations, showing how agents can simplify technical work.

SAS took a different approach, focusing on human-AI collaboration. Their new Viya platform lets organizations create agents that blend automated decisions with human oversight. For example, a loan approval agent might flag risky cases for human review while handling routine applications alone. Built-in governance tools help companies track how these agents make decisions.

Meanwhile, testing of dozens of agents revealed key trends: specialized agents (like ones built just for inventory management) outperform general-purpose tools, and teams of agents working together (“multi-agent systems”) are becoming standard. A San Francisco event for AI startups highlighted tools that let agents hand off tasks mid-process—like a customer service agent transferring complex issues to a billing specialist agent.

Developers are learning these new techniques through hands-on events. Microsoft’s Agents 101 Hackathon, running this week in San Francisco, teaches builders to create agents that adapt to changing conditions. Meanwhile, GitHub’s A2A working group (including Microsoft) is refining standards to ensure agents from different companies can communicate reliably.