Enabling the agentic economy with Ory & Skyfire

AI agents are increasingly integral to business operations, with many mid-size enterprises already utilizing AI in various forms. The Pax8 2025 Research Report highlights the emergence of autonomous AI agents acting as "digital emissaries" capable of browsing, transacting, and making online decisions, ushering in a new agentic economy. This economy requires a robust identity and payments infrastructure, elevating AI agents to first-class digital citizens. The partnership between Ory and Skyfire addresses this need by integrating Skyfire's AI-native payments and identity verification with Ory Hydra's OAuth2/OpenID Connect authentication server. Through the Know Your Agent (KYA) framework, AI agents can establish verified digital identities, facilitating secure and compliant transactions. The Ory Hydra system ensures machine-scale authentication and real-time token management, enabling AI agents to operate within existing identity access management systems. Skyfire provides programmable digital wallets to automate payments, allowing agents to conduct transactions much like human users. This collaboration opens new revenue streams by allowing businesses to engage AI-powered purchasers, while maintaining security and compliance through open standards like OAuth2.1, OIDC, and MCP, thus fostering a secure, agent-driven digital marketplace.