The AI Agent Economy: Hindered by Four Foundational Gaps
At a recent major Web3 industry event in Hong Kong, Yan Ying, CTO of Ant Digital Technologies, highlighted a critical issue within the burgeoning AI agent ecosystem. She described the presence of four fundamental "structural gaps" that threaten the scalable and trustworthy evolution of agent-based economies, moving beyond mere technical hiccups to systemic vulnerabilities.
Introducing the 4R Full-Stack Framework
To address these core challenges, Yan Ying introduced the comprehensive "4R Full-Stack" architectural vision. This framework is designed as a cohesive, layered stack to provide end-to-end technical infrastructure for autonomous economic activities between AI agents.
- Agentic Runtime Layer: Ensures reliable and controllable task execution, minimizing risks from prompt logic flaws.
- Payment Rails Layer: Establishes dedicated transaction channels for automated agent-to-agent commerce, moving beyond human-centric payment models.
- Agent Registry Layer: Creates a system for verifiable digital identities, assigning clear accountability to each autonomous agent.
- Root Infrastructure Layer: Supplies the underlying security, compliance, and risk-control capabilities foundational to the entire stack.
A Paradigm Shift: From Patches to Foundational Redesign
Yan Ying stressed that superficial software fixes are inadequate. For AI agents to engage in genuine, trustworthy economic activities, a paradigm shift at the infrastructure level is required. This calls for industry-wide collaboration to establish standardized, interoperable base protocols, laying a robust technical groundwork for the future of the agent economy.