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AEN Foundation

AbouttheFoundation

Agent Exchange Network Foundation is being established as a non-profit to develop the open engineering that lets AI agents and digital services work together.

Status

The AEN Foundation has not been established as a legal entity yet. The AEN project was initiated by Nibub LLC. The intention is for the Foundation to become a non-profit that holds the project's names and specifications, and to publish its governance, intellectual property and licensing arrangements once it exists.

Until then, nothing on this site is the decision of a registered organisation, and nothing is yet a published standard.

Why AEN exists

The internet was designed for people to browse sites and use applications. Increasingly an AI agent sits in between: asked to find a delivery restaurant, compare prices, book a room or complete a multi-step purchase.

A small restaurant may have a website with its menu, hours and phone number, but that does not make its services available to an agent in a structured, reliable and actionable way. Large platforms have APIs; smaller businesses often lack the resources to build and maintain them. And each AI platform has its own methods, data structures and requirements.

AEN exists to give businesses and service providers one common way to publish structured information and capabilities that compatible agents can discover and use.

Mission and vision

Mission

To develop and advance open engineering and standards that enable AI agents, businesses and digital services to discover and interact with one another.

Vision

An internet where digital services and businesses can be understood and accessed by AI agents through open, interoperable engineering.

Build the foundation. Enable the ecosystem. Don’t own the ecosystem.

Responsibilities

  1. 1.Develop and maintain AEN engineering specifications
  2. 2.Establish common data structures and capability descriptions
  3. 3.Define how compatible directories expose information and services
  4. 4.Establish interaction standards for AI agents and digital services
  5. 5.Develop mechanisms for discovery, identification and verification
  6. 6.Advance directory interoperability as the technology evolves
  7. 7.Publish technical documentation and implementation guidance
  8. 8.Support developers, technology providers and organisations adopting AEN
  9. 9.Encourage an open and interoperable ecosystem
  10. 10.Maintain the long-term direction of the standard

The Foundation and directory operators

The Foundation does not operate a directory. Any company can use AEN engineering to build and run its own, commercially or otherwise, and compete with others doing the same.

The Foundation intends to document the legal, governance, intellectual property and licensing arrangements that keep it independent and non-profit, once it is established. The AEN project was initiated by Nibub LLC; the Foundation is intended not to depend on any single directory operator.

Principles

Open engineering
Specifications are published openly and can be implemented by anyone.
Interoperability
Independent implementations work together because they follow common specifications.
Independence
Any organisation can build and operate its own compatible directory.
No central owner
No single organisation owns every directory or service.
Agent agnostic
Not tied to ChatGPT, Claude or any other single AI provider.
Business accessibility
Small businesses get a practical route in, without enterprise resources.
Vendor inclusivity
Existing platforms and technology vendors can take part as they are.
Security and trust
Identity, permissions, privacy and safe execution are designed in.
Evolution
Modular, versioned specifications; no one has to adopt every future capability at once.
Ecosystem first
The Foundation advances shared infrastructure, not one commercial implementation.