Introducing IBM’s Agent Connect in watsonx  Orchestrate 🎯

IBM recently launched Agent Connect, a powerful new feature within watsonx  Orchestrate that lets partners integrate and deploy specialized AI agents effortlessly. Available since late May 2025, Agent Connect enables independent software vendors (ISVs) and solution providers to offer their agents in the watsonx Orchestrate Agent Catalog—unlocking a new marketplace within the platform

What is Agent Connect?

At its core, Agent Connect is both:

1. A partner program welcoming ISVs to build agents natively for Orchestrate—or connect existing ones—and publish them in the Agent Catalog.

2. A technical framework—the Agent Connect Framework—that provides a standardized, framework-agnostic protocol for integrating agents built on LangChain, LangGraph, CrewAI, Copilot Studio, and more.

Built on chat-completion-style APIs and server-sent events, the framework supports multi-agent orchestration: agents can see each other’s reasoning steps, share tool-call data, and collaborate to complete complex workflows.

Why It Matters

Together, Agent Connect and the Agent Catalog provide a unified hub where enterprise users can discover, deploy, and manage a diverse ecosystem of AI agents—whether they're built by IBM or external partners.

This delivers several benefits:

• Faster time‑to‑value — users can instantly access specialized agents tailored to their business needs

• Multi‑agent orchestration — collaborate across agents to break down silos and automate end-to-end tasks.

• Simplified development — partners can integrate without reinventing the wheel thanks to a consistent API and compliance with existing enterprise features.

• Stronger go‑to‑market support — partners gain exposure via IBM’s sales channels, consulting teams, and built-in marketplace

Partnering via Agent Connect

Interested ISVs can apply through a clear onboarding process:

1. Apply & qualify – fill the sign-up form, discuss your use case, and sign a Catalog Listing Agreement.

2. Technical onboarding – build or adapt your agent to meet API spec, latency, stateless security, and SSE response requirements; use the ADK to test locally

3. Self-certify & submit – self-attest against functional, security, and compliance standards; submit metadata for review and catalog listing .

4. Go‑to‑market launch – once published in the Agent Catalog, your agent becomes visible to enterprise customers via Orchestrate—supported by IBM’s marketing and sales engine.

Real-World Collaboration in Action

Niklas Heidloff from IBM illustrated how external agents can collaborate inside watsonx Orchestrate. For example, a weather agent retrieves forecasts, and a travel agent uses that data to make recommendations—all triggered by a central orchestrator agent via standardized /v1/chat streams and tool-call event.

Who’s on Board?

The launch already features notable partners such as ServiceNow, Salesforce, Seismic, MasterCard, Netomi, Hyperscience, symplistic.ai, cajaLens, and more—demonstrating IBM’s broad ecosystem adoption