Search boxes and feeds defined the first two web eras. A new position paper proposes the third: the Agentic Web, where autonomous software agents—often LLM-powered—act on our behalf, coordinate with other agents, and execute long-horizon tasks across services. The authors offer a working definition and argue the shift is already visible in consumer assistants that can plan purchases and book reservations end-to-end.
A framework in three dimensions
The paper lays out a conceptual stack for this world: intelligence (reasoning, memory, planning), interaction (tools, APIs, multi-agent protocols), and economics (incentives, pricing, marketplaces). These dimensions, taken together, underpin capabilities like retrieval, recommendation, planning and collaboration that move beyond single-turn chat.
From retrieval to planning to coordination
Architecturally, the authors chart algorithmic transitions: user-issued queries give way to agentic retrieval; recommender systems evolve into agent planners; and isolated tools become multi-agent collectives able to decompose and delegate work. A worked example walks through agents co-planning a travel itinerary, highlighting orchestration and memory.
New pipes: MCP and agent-to-agent messaging
HTTP and RPC weren’t built for autonomous, negotiated workflows. The paper surveys emerging Model Context Protocol (MCP) interfaces and purpose-built agent-to-agent (A2A) messaging layers to support capability discovery, tool brokering and structured negotiations between services—foundational plumbing for an internet of bots.
The Agent Attention Economy
If algorithms once competed for human attention, services on the Agentic Web will compete to be selected by agents mid-plan. That reframes ranking, pricing and attribution around machine decision-makers—an attention market where tools, APIs and even other agents bid for inclusion in workflows.
What breaks (and who pays)
The authors predict “agent browsers” will disrupt today’s user-centric browsing model, shifting interfaces from manual clicks to delegated execution. They also flag a looming billing problem for complex, multi-step agent services that span providers and time windows—who gets paid, and how, when dozens of tools contribute to one outcome?
Risks, red teaming and defense
A full section maps threats across layers (prompt-/tool-injection, data exfiltration, compromised marketplaces), and compares human-in-the-loop versus automated red teaming for agent systems. The authors argue for hybrid approaches, inference-time guardrails, and controllable planning to keep autonomous workflows within safe bounds.
Why it matters
If the Agentic Web arrives, the primary “users” of the internet won’t be humans but agents negotiating with each other—demanding new protocols, marketplaces, governance and safety tooling. For startups, the opportunity is to build the pipes, policies and platforms that let those agents cooperate—and compete—reliably.
Paper link: arXiv 2507.21206 (PDF)
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