This week’s IA•AI (Iowa Artificial Intelligence) meetup topic & discussions got me thinking about where AI is heading next—especially for scaling small and mid-sized businesses that are moving beyond experimenting with individual tools. Many organizations are now comfortable using AI for discrete tasks. What’s emerging next is something more structural: Agent-to-Agent (A2A) AI.

A2A isn’t about fully autonomous systems suddenly running businesses. That future isn’t here. Instead, it’s about multiple AI agents coordinating work—passing context, handing off tasks, and supporting workflows, sometimes with humans closely involved and sometimes stepping in only at key moments. As SMBs mature in their AI use, this shift from tools to systems becomes increasingly important.

What makes A2A different from single-tool AI is how work gets organized:

1. AI agents specialize in narrow tasks rather than trying to do everything
2. Context and results move between agents instead of restarting each task from scratch
3. Humans remain decision-makers, stepping in where judgment, risk, or ambiguity matter most

One of the clearest lessons from recent conversations is that A2A works best when agents are narrowly scoped and purpose-built. Chaining together small, reliable agents—for research, analysis, drafting, or summarization—can improve speed and consistency. Without clear boundaries, however, the same approach can introduce unnecessary complexity and risk.

That leads to a bigger leadership question in 2026: how much autonomy is appropriate? Near-perfect accuracy is rarely required in everyday business contexts, and chasing it can be costly. The right balance depends on the use case, the risk involved, and where human judgment still needs to stay firmly in the loop.

For SMBs, the opportunity isn’t to rush into complex multi-agent architectures. It’s to start thinking more clearly about coordination. Where do handoffs break down today? Where are people manually stitching systems together? Where could better orchestration reduce friction and free up time?

Agent-to-Agent AI isn’t about replacing people. It’s about reshaping how work flows around them. The organizations that begin building this fluency now—around scope, accuracy, and oversight—will be better positioned as AI continues to evolve throughout 2026.

Your Biztech,

—Joshua

P.S. Happy New Year—I look forward to helping you with your business technology in 2026! Let me know if you want to chat.

Disclaimer: I use AI to help write emails like these. I review & edit all AI-assisted work I publish.