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Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella\u2019s endorsement of Google DeepMind\u2018s Agent2Agent (A2A) open protocol and Anthropic\u2019s Model Context Protocol (MCP) will immediately accelerate agentic AI-based collaboration and interdependence, leading to rapid gains in agentic-based apps and platforms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Nadella\u2019s endorsement delivers the catalyst the agentic AI development community needed to fast-track their collaborations, leading to entirely new apps, platforms and networks. Having historically been open about the potential for agentic AI to integrate across platforms, yesterday\u2019s announcement, which also unveiled upcoming support for CoPilot Studio and Foundry, set a new precedent in how committed Microsoft is to open agentic standards. \u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On Wednesday, Nadella wrote on X (formerly Twitter) that \u201cOpen protocols like A2A and MCP are key to enabling the agentic web,\u201d before announcing upcoming support in Copilot Studio and Foundry. While often agreeing with the concept of open standards for agentic AI integration, this is the first time he\u2019s endorsed a standard publicly. Nadella\u2019s influence on the industry will lead to a shift from proprietary ecosystems toward cross-platform, agentic AI collaboration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Open protocols like A2A and MCP are key to enabling the agentic web. With A2A support coming to Copilot Studio and Foundry, customers can build agentic systems that interoperate by design. https:\/\/t.co\/8wZGYU8kkj<\/p>\u2014 Satya Nadella (@satyanadella) May 7, 2025<\/a><\/blockquote> \n\n\n\n
Committing to open architectures<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Nadella\u2019s history of championing open, interoperable AI architectures spans over a decade. Throughout his many keynotes and interviews, Nadella has made it clear that open standard, not proprietary silos, are among the most reliable catalysts there are to drive adoption of new AI technologies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As early as 2018, Nadella highlighted Microsoft\u2019s collaboration with Facebook on ONNX (Open Neural Network Exchange), an o<\/span>pen model format. He said, ONNX \u201cis supported broadly now by all of the frameworks\u2026 as well as the hardware acceleration from Intel, Qualcomm, and Nvidia.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Late last year, he reaffirmed an open platform approach t<\/span>o AI development, saying, \u201cWe\u2019re building on the\u00a0open platform ethos of GitHub, bringing multi-model choice to Copilot.\u201d One of the primary goals of that effort is to enable developers to leverage AI models from any provider instead of being locked into a single vendor. \u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Earlier this year, Nadella doubled down on openness in agentic AI architectures, apps and platforms, emphasizing that open source \u201cabsolutely has a massive, massive role to play\u201d in advanced AI systems. He added that \u201chaving a posture that allows interoperability is incredibly important\u201d for enterprise AI.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Nadella has also predicted that the more AI models become capable of taking on more complex tasks, the more the \u201cmodels themselves become more of a commodity, and all value gets created by how you steer, ground, and fine-tune these models with your business data and workflow.\u201d Through dozens of interviews and keynotes, Nadella continues to underscore that the real competitive edge comes from an open, flexible ecosystem where organizations can mix, match and customize AI components to suit their needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A2A and MCP are growing in importance<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Nadella\u2019s endorsement of A2A and MCP protocols shows how far the Microsoft senior management team has agreed that an open protocol approach is the best direction for the company. Endorsing both on the same day shows how far Microsoft is in its strategies related to agentic AI collaboration, integration and how diverse agentic AI architectures can be combined.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Below is a table comparing each protocol along with a short explanation of its relevance in enterprises.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Protocol<\/strong><\/td> Origin\/Definition<\/strong><\/td> Enterprise Relevance<\/strong><\/td><\/tr><\/thead>
A2A<\/td> Google DeepMind introduced Agent2Agent (A2A) in 2025. It is an open protocol that standardizes inter-agent communication. It uses a shared schema for AI agents to exchange tasks, requests and results, enabling agents from any vendor or platform to collaborate seamlessly.<\/td> A2A allows multi-vendor AI workflows to integrate smoothly, reducing vendor lock-in and supporting composability across diverse platforms. This unlocks dynamic, interoperable agent ecosystems for complex enterprise automation and innovation.<\/td><\/tr>
MCP<\/td> Model Context Protocol (MCP), open-sourced by Anthropic in late 2024, specifies how AI models request context\/data from external sources in a standardized, secure manner. It acts as a universal interface for connecting AI models to tools and data, similar to a \u201cUSB-C port\u201d for AI.<\/td> MCP offers a uniform method to pull in enterprise data and app functionalities, streamlining AI integration. This fuels consistent security, governance and scalability across platforms, making it easier to deploy AI assistants enterprise-wide.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Addressing the past of enterprise vendor lock-in early<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
With enterprise deployments of CoPilot being a strategic priority at Microsoft, it\u2019s understandable that Nadella took a preemptive step of reducing enterprise buyers\u2019 concerns over vendor lock-in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Previous generations of the company\u2019s products sold into enterprises were known for enforcing vendor lock-in either through complex and costly pricing strategies or challenging integration techniques, especially if a comparable Microsoft-native product was available.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Nadella has long signaled to enterprises that he sees their infrastructure as being heterogeneous. Stepping into the role of cross-platform enabler, Nadella positions Microsoft\u2019s Azure AI strategy as a viable alternative for enterprise DevOps workflows and ongoing development, for example. Copilot can quickly become part of multi-agent workflows now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Interested in enabling agentic AI providers to collaborate in creating new agentic apps, systems and platforms, Microsoft\u2019s enforcement of A2A and MCP will prove to be a noteworthy catalyst for agentic AI\u2019s growth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A quick win for security and compliance<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
From a compliance standpoint, standard protocols simplify auditing and streamline compliance. When agent-to-agent interaction is structured through A2A, organizations can track exactly which entities exchanged information and when. This end-to-end visibility helps regulators see how customer data flows through various agents. For instance, if a user\u2019s personal medical records are passed between an insurance agent and a hospital\u2019s scheduling agent, A2A logs can confirm data privacy compliance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Conversely, MCP standardizes how AI systems request and consume data from enterprise data sources. It also resembles zero trust because role-based permissions govern each request, which helps analyze data leakage. Microsoft\u2019s reinforcement of these protocols ensures that even if an agent changes providers, say, from a Microsoft-built solution to one from a smaller vendor, the same compliance rules remain in effect, reducing the risk of security gaps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Nadella just accelerated agentic AI innovation<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Backing A2A and MCP open protocols ensures the core components of any agentic AI tech stack provided by Anthropic, Google or Microsoft will be compatible and capable of interoperability from the first product releases. That removes significant roadblocks for the hundreds of agentic AI startups and partners that rely on these companies for future growth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Removing friction and costs from integrating systems increases data velocity, improves data quality and helps enterprises rely on these systems to serve customers more effectively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When speed is the feature everyone is chasing, going all-in on open standards is the fuel that will most certainly drive faster innovation and more sustainable growth for every agentic AI provider.<\/p>\n
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Join our daily and weekly newsletters for the latest updates and exclusive content on industry-leading AI coverage. Learn More Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella\u2019s endorsement of Google DeepMind\u2018s Agent2Agent (A2A) open protocol and Anthropic\u2019s Model Context Protocol (MCP) will immediately accelerate agentic AI-based collaboration and interdependence, leading to rapid gains in agentic-based apps and platforms. Nadella\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1523,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1522","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ai-automation"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/violethoward.com\/new\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Satya_smiling-print-1024x683-1.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/violethoward.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1522","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/violethoward.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/violethoward.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/violethoward.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/violethoward.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1522"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/violethoward.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1522\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/violethoward.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1523"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/violethoward.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1522"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/violethoward.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1522"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/violethoward.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1522"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}

Protocol<\/strong><\/td>	Origin\/Definition<\/strong><\/td>	Enterprise Relevance<\/strong><\/td><\/tr><\/thead>
A2A<\/td>	Google DeepMind introduced Agent2Agent (A2A) in 2025. It is an open protocol that standardizes inter-agent communication. It uses a shared schema for AI agents to exchange tasks, requests and results, enabling agents from any vendor or platform to collaborate seamlessly.<\/td>	A2A allows multi-vendor AI workflows to integrate smoothly, reducing vendor lock-in and supporting composability across diverse platforms. This unlocks dynamic, interoperable agent ecosystems for complex enterprise automation and innovation.<\/td><\/tr>
MCP<\/td>	Model Context Protocol (MCP), open-sourced by Anthropic in late 2024, specifies how AI models request context\/data from external sources in a standardized, secure manner. It acts as a universal interface for connecting AI models to tools and data, similar to a \u201cUSB-C port\u201d for AI.<\/td>	MCP offers a uniform method to pull in enterprise data and app functionalities, streamlining AI integration. This fuels consistent security, governance and scalability across platforms, making it easier to deploy AI assistants enterprise-wide.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n Addressing the past of enterprise vendor lock-in early<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n With enterprise deployments of CoPilot being a strategic priority at Microsoft, it\u2019s understandable that Nadella took a preemptive step of reducing enterprise buyers\u2019 concerns over vendor lock-in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Previous generations of the company\u2019s products sold into enterprises were known for enforcing vendor lock-in either through complex and costly pricing strategies or challenging integration techniques, especially if a comparable Microsoft-native product was available.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Nadella has long signaled to enterprises that he sees their infrastructure as being heterogeneous. Stepping into the role of cross-platform enabler, Nadella positions Microsoft\u2019s Azure AI strategy as a viable alternative for enterprise DevOps workflows and ongoing development, for example. Copilot can quickly become part of multi-agent workflows now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Interested in enabling agentic AI providers to collaborate in creating new agentic apps, systems and platforms, Microsoft\u2019s enforcement of A2A and MCP will prove to be a noteworthy catalyst for agentic AI\u2019s growth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A quick win for security and compliance<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n From a compliance standpoint, standard protocols simplify auditing and streamline compliance. When agent-to-agent interaction is structured through A2A, organizations can track exactly which entities exchanged information and when. This end-to-end visibility helps regulators see how customer data flows through various agents. For instance, if a user\u2019s personal medical records are passed between an insurance agent and a hospital\u2019s scheduling agent, A2A logs can confirm data privacy compliance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Conversely, MCP standardizes how AI systems request and consume data from enterprise data sources. It also resembles zero trust because role-based permissions govern each request, which helps analyze data leakage. Microsoft\u2019s reinforcement of these protocols ensures that even if an agent changes providers, say, from a Microsoft-built solution to one from a smaller vendor, the same compliance rules remain in effect, reducing the risk of security gaps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Nadella just accelerated agentic AI innovation<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n Backing A2A and MCP open protocols ensures the core components of any agentic AI tech stack provided by Anthropic, Google or Microsoft will be compatible and capable of interoperability from the first product releases. That removes significant roadblocks for the hundreds of agentic AI startups and partners that rely on these companies for future growth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Removing friction and costs from integrating systems increases data velocity, improves data quality and helps enterprises rely on these systems to serve customers more effectively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When speed is the feature everyone is chasing, going all-in on open standards is the fuel that will most certainly drive faster innovation and more sustainable growth for every agentic AI provider.<\/p>\n \n \n Daily insights on business use cases with VB Daily<\/strong><\/p>\n If you want to impress your boss, VB Daily has you covered. We give you the inside scoop on what companies are doing with generative AI, from regulatory shifts to practical deployments, so you can share insights for maximum ROI.<\/p>\n Read our Privacy Policy<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t\tThanks for subscribing. Check out more VB newsletters here.\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n An error occured.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n \n\t\t\t\t\t $\"\"\/$ \n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\t\t\t<\/div><\/script>\r\n \r\n Source link <\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Join our daily and weekly newsletters for the latest updates and exclusive content on industry-leading AI coverage. Learn More Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella\u2019s endorsement of Google DeepMind\u2018s Agent2Agent (A2A) open protocol and Anthropic\u2019s Model Context Protocol (MCP) will immediately accelerate agentic AI-based collaboration and interdependence, leading to rapid gains in agentic-based apps and platforms. Nadella\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1523,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1522","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ai-automation"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/violethoward.com\/new\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Satya_smiling-print-1024x683-1.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/violethoward.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1522","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/violethoward.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/violethoward.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/violethoward.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/violethoward.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1522"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/violethoward.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1522\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/violethoward.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1523"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/violethoward.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1522"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/violethoward.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1522"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/violethoward.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1522"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}