Agentic Communication Networks: When Agents Become Network Entities

Overview & Synopsis

Autonomous agents are moving from application-layer components to active participants in networked systems. They not only generate traffic but also perceive context, express intent, invoke services, coordinate with other agents, and act under task, policy, and resource constraints. This evolution exposes a mismatch between emerging agentic interactions and conventional endpoint- and traffic-centric network abstractions. This white paper introduces Agentic Communication Networks (ACN) as a network-centric paradigm for the time when agents become first-order network entities. At its core, ACN reshapes networking around three fundamental aspects. First, agents are represented as identifiable and governable network entities with explicit identity, authority, and lifecycle. Second, agentic services are expressed through intent, capability, context, policy, and task state, allowing the network to capture what an agent seeks to accomplish and under what conditions. Third, agentic execution becomes an explicit network concern as tasks involve multiple agents, services, tools, and distributed capabilities across heterogeneous infrastructures. Based on these shifts, the paper defines the scope, principles, architecture, and research directions of ACN, positioning it as a networking foundation for autonomous agent ecosystems.