Why We’re Betting on an Open Future for AI Agents
By Alexander De Ridder, Co-Founder & CTO, SmythOS
I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about where this whole AI agent thing is headed. You hear the buzzwords: “agent-to-agent economy,” “trillions of transactions,” a future where software doesn’t just follow instructions but actively does things on our behalf, and on behalf of other software. It’s exciting, no doubt. The potential to reshape how we work, how businesses operate, how value is created – it’s massive.
But here’s the thing that keeps me up at night: with that immense power comes an equally immense responsibility. This isn’t just about cool tech. It’s about the kind of future we’re building. An agent-to-agent economy, where AI agents are the primary economic actors, could easily become a force that widens the gap between the haves and have-nots, creating inequality on a scale we’ve never seen before.
That’s a future I don’t want. And it’s why, at SmythOS, we’re not just building tools; we’re trying to build a better future.
The Crossroads: Open Roads or Walled Gardens?
We’re at a fork in the road. Down one path, you have the “walled gardens”. You know the type – closed ecosystems where a few big players control everything. It’s comfortable for them, sure. They set the rules, they reap the rewards. But innovation? True, broad-based innovation that benefits everyone? That tends to wither in walled gardens. It’s the classic AI lock-in scenario I’ve talked about before; you get stuck, your choices shrink, and the ecosystem becomes less vibrant.
Then there’s the other path: an open internet of agents. Think about the internet itself. Its power came from open standards, from the ability for anyone, anywhere, to build, connect, and share. That’s the kind of future we believe in for AI agents. A future where agents can talk to each other, collaborate, and compete on a level playing field, regardless of who built them or what platform they run on.
Our “Radical Decision” – And What It Means For You
This isn’t just some philosophical rambling for us. We decided to put our money where our mouth is. We made what some might call a radical decision: we’ve open-sourced our agent runtime operating system, Smyth Runtime Local (SRE), and we’re making our core agent building software free for anyone building public, open-source agents.
Why would we do that? Simple. We believe this is a fight for all humanity. If we want an AI future that’s equitable, that empowers individuals and small teams just as much as large corporations, then the foundational tools need to be open.
So, what does this mean for you – the developers, the builders, the innovators?
- Freedom and Control: With Smyth Runtime Local (SRE), you can run AI agents on your own hardware – your Mac, your Windows PC, your Linux box, even a Raspberry Pi. No external dependencies, minimal resources needed, and complete privacy and control over your data. You’re not forced into someone else’s cloud if you don’t want to be.
- No More AI Lock-In (at least from us): We’re building SmythOS to be an orchestration layer, a way to connect different models and services without getting trapped. Our open-source runtime is a core part of that. You get to choose the best tools for the job, not just the tools one vendor wants you to use.
- Build for the Public Good, On Us: Our visual IDE, the same one we use to build powerful enterprise agents, is free and open source. We want to see a flourishing ecosystem of agents that solve real problems and are accessible to everyone. This is our way of helping that happen. You can still use our paid hosted services for your private, commercial APIs and team projects, of course – we have to keep the lights on! But the barrier to entry for open innovation? We’re tearing it down.
- You can see how our entire company operates. We build in the open, you smythos-list-itemscan even join our weekly team meetings!
We’re not just throwing code over the wall, either. We’re trying to make building agents genuinely easier. Our platform is designed with a visual, no-code/low-code
approach, so you don’t need to be a hardcore programmer to bring your ideas to life. We even have an AI-powered assistant, Agent Weaver, that can help generate workflows from plain English descriptions.
It Takes a Village (Or an Open Standard)
We know we can’t build this open future alone. That’s why we’re committed to partnering with organizations that are pushing for and developing open standards. Just like HTTP and TCP/IP powered the web, we need common languages for agents to communicate and collaborate effectively.
We’re already seeing movement here with things like the Agent2Agent (A2A) protocol, and we’re building SmythOS to be ready for this interoperable world, for instance, by enabling you to deploy agents as MCP servers.
The Bottom Line: Building a Future We Want to Live In
Look, the agent-to-agent economy is coming, whether we like it or not. The real question is: what kind of economy will it be? Will it be one that concentrates power and wealth, or one that distributes opportunity and empowers individuals?
At SmythOS, we’re placing our bet firmly on the side of openness, fairness, and humanity. We believe that by making our tools accessible, by championing open standards, and by fostering a community of builders who share these values, we can help steer this incredible technology towards a future that benefits everyone.
We’re doing this because we believe it’s the right thing to do. And frankly, we think it’s the only way to build a company that people will not only want to do business with, but will believe in, recommend to their friends, and want to support.
The tools are increasingly in your hands. Let’s build something amazing – and equitable – together.
Alexander De Ridder has often spoken in conferences and in podcasts about the importance of an open internet of agents as opposed to closed walled gardens. He believes that the agent to agent economy will dwarf the human to human and human to agent economy, with trillions of transactions happening daily. Such a future has a huge opportunity to create inequality. We are fighting for all humanity. That’s why we made the radical decision to open source both our agent runtime operating system as well as our agent building software, and why we partner with organizations who encourage and develop open standards.
Write an editorial piece in the writing style of the posthog blog, from the desk of Alexander De Ridder, co-founder at SmythOS about our philosophy and the importance of this move. Make the article in a way that when people read it, SmythOS is a company they want to do business with, something they want to recommend to their friends, believe in, and want to support financially because we do the right thing.
