The evolution of realtime AI: How Ably is powering Gen-2 conversational experiences

Ably, a company known for delivering reliable, low-latency real-time experiences at scale, has evolved to address the challenges of modern AI-driven interactions with its new Ably AI Transport Layer. This layer is designed to support "Gen 2" AI experiences, which involve complex multi-step workflows, asynchronous operations, and continuous feedback, moving beyond the traditional request-response pattern. Ably AI Transport focuses on providing a robust infrastructure between AI agents and user devices, allowing for seamless cross-device continuity, state recovery, and multi-agent coordination. It introduces features like shared state using CRDT-based collaborative objects, enabling sophisticated coordination and context-aware prioritization among AI agents. By maintaining a framework-agnostic approach, it allows developers to focus on AI logic and orchestration without being constrained by networking issues, offering integrations with platforms like OpenAI's agent framework and LangChain. Currently, Ably is refining these concepts based on real-world usage while advocating for a streamlined approach to building AI experiences without the need to reconstruct real-time infrastructure.