Microsoft Backs Google's AI Agent Interoperability Standard

Caption: The Microsoft pavilion at Hannover Messe 2025. The company is collaborating on AI agent interoperability standards.

Key Developments

• Microsoft’s Commitment: Microsoft announced its support for Google’s Agent2Agent (A2A) protocol, joining over 50 tech partners, including Salesforce, Oracle, and SAP. The move aims to enable seamless communication between AI agents across platforms.
• Multi-Agent Workflows: Microsoft highlighted the need for agents to operate across diverse models and ecosystems. The company plans to integrate A2A into Azure AI Foundry and Copilot Studio, allowing enterprises to build cross-platform AI workflows.
• Industry Trend: This aligns with a broader push for AI standardization, following initiatives like the Model Context Protocol and last year’s open-standard AI infrastructure alliance.

Why It Matters

• Enterprise Benefits: Jason Wong of Gartner noted that interoperability is critical for heterogeneous AI environments. However, challenges like security and pricing models remain unresolved.
• Competition vs. Collaboration: Despite tensions—such as Google’s EU complaint against Microsoft—tech giants are uniting around shared standards to accelerate AI adoption.
• Future Outlook: Microsoft called this a "step on a longer journey," signaling ongoing contributions to A2A’s development on GitHub.

Broader Context

The tech industry has increasingly prioritized standardization, from AI safety frameworks to data provenance efforts. Yet, as Wong cautioned, "IT leaders are wary" of shifting standards.

Published May 8, 2025 | By Lindsey Wilkinson