The Agent Surface
A new design pattern called the Agent Surface, or Model Context Protocol (MCP), is proposed to bridge existing enterprise systems with AI agents. This pattern aims to create a first-class API layer specifically for AI consumption, addressing challenges like discoverability, granularity mismatch, security, and operational access. The article argues that AI agents, unlike previous consumers of APIs, can effectively utilize self-describing capabilities, fulfilling the original promise of HATEOAS which failed to gain traction previously. AI
IMPACT This proposed pattern could streamline AI agent integration with existing enterprise systems, potentially accelerating AI adoption in business.