---
title: "Agentic Web: The Agent Name Service"
description: The internet scaled not simply because of faster networks, but because a set of shared protocols made communication and coordination possible across independently operated systems. IP assigned addresses to machines, TCP enabled reliable data transmission, and HTTP established a common format for requesting and delivering documents. DNS translated human-readable names into machine-routable addresses, while digital certificates enabled browsers to verify the identity of websites. These foundational standards allowed developers and organizations to build interconnected services without coordinating directly with every participant. As AI agents begin interacting across platforms and organizations, the agentic web faces a similar need for shared infrastructure that supports identity, discovery, and trust.
---

[Elaxtra Advisors | Insights](https://elaxtra.com/insights)

# [Agentic Web: The Agent Name Service](https://elaxtra.com/insights/agentic-web-the-agent-name-service)

 Written by [Elaxtra Advisors](https://elaxtra.com/insights/author/elaxtra-advisors) | October 14, 2026

The internet scaled not simply because of faster networks, but because a set of shared protocols made communication and coordination possible across independently operated systems. IP assigned addresses to machines, TCP enabled reliable data transmission, and HTTP established a common format for requesting and delivering documents. DNS translated human-readable names into machine-routable addresses, while digital certificates enabled browsers to verify the identity of websites. These foundational standards allowed developers and organizations to build interconnected services without coordinating directly with every participant. As AI agents begin interacting across platforms and organizations, the agentic web faces a similar need for shared infrastructure that supports identity, discovery, and trust.

AI agent infrastructure has advanced more rapidly at the application and communication layers than at the identity and discovery layers. Anthropic's Model Context Protocol (MCP) established a standardized way for models to access tools and data sources. Google's Agent2Agent (A2A) protocol, contributed to the Linux Foundation in mid-2025, established a framework for structured communication between agents developed by different providers. However, neither protocol independently establishes an agent's identity, its operator, its permissions, or how other systems can locate it. Agents still rely on hardcoded URLs and proprietary registries to find one another, creating dependencies similar to those that existed before DNS. These approaches can support limited deployments but become more difficult to manage as organizations move toward production-scale agent systems.

The Agent Name Service (ANS) is a proposed approach to addressing these identity and discovery challenges. The concept emerged from the OWASP GenAI Security Project, where Vineeth Sai Narajala and Ken Huang published a DNS-inspired architecture for verifiable agent identity in May 2025. On June 23, 2026, the Linux Foundation announced its intention to launch ANS as an open standard, with support from Cloudflare, GoDaddy, Infoblox, Salesforce, and Cisco. Rather than introducing a separate lookup network or centralized registry, ANS is designed to anchor agent identities in existing DNS infrastructure, allowing organizations to publish agents under domains they already control. Public key infrastructure would support verification of an agent's organizational identity, permissions, and integrity. A related Linux Foundation initiative, DNS-AID, launched a month earlier, builds on work by Infoblox to support discovery of AI agents and MCP servers. Together, the initiatives address complementary requirements: DNS-AID supports discovery, while ANS focuses on identity and trust. However, ANS remains a proposed standard rather than an established, widely adopted system.

The strategic question mirrors the trade-offs between closed, open-weight, and open-source AI models discussed in ([https://elaxtra.com/insights/models-closed-vs-open-weight-vs-open-source](https://elaxtra.com/insights/models-closed-vs-open-weight-vs-open-source)). As technology platforms evolve, organizations must decide whether essential capabilities will remain within proprietary ecosystems or rely on shared infrastructure. If a small number of hyperscalers control agent identity, interoperability may depend on access to their platforms. If agent identity develops around existing DNS infrastructure and open standards, organizations could establish and verify agent identities across providers without relying on a single platform. This distinction could influence whether AI develops into a broadly interoperable technology layer or remains organized around separate vendor ecosystems, a question also explored in ([https://elaxtra.com/insights/ai-as-an-operating-system](https://elaxtra.com/insights/ai-as-an-operating-system)).

For technology services firms, a shared framework for agent identity and discovery could make deployment architectures more reusable across client engagements. Today, identity management, permissioning, and agent discovery may require project-specific integration because clients use different platforms and configurations. Common standards could reduce the need to rebuild these components for each engagement, allowing firms to reuse delivery assets and potentially improve scalability. This would support the shift toward outcome-based delivery models, where repeatable infrastructure and lower incremental delivery costs can contribute to software-like economics, as discussed in ([https://elaxtra.com/insights/pricing-services-from-time-to-outcomes](https://elaxtra.com/insights/pricing-services-from-time-to-outcomes)). However, ANS is still at the proposal stage, and widespread adoption is not guaranteed. Its longer-term impact will depend on implementation, interoperability, and adoption across the broader agent ecosystem.

Elaxtra Advisors is an M&A and value-creation advisory firm that assists institutional investors, private equity-owned platforms, and strategic acquirers invest and create value in worldwide technology services companies. Please contact us to explore potential partnerships.

[View full post](https://elaxtra.com/insights/agentic-web-the-agent-name-service)

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