Foundations
Foundations
Cross-cutting explorations of the mechanics that underpin AI agent systems — security, trust, systemic risk. These are not industry-specific. They apply everywhere agents operate.
The industry series ask "what changes?" Foundations asks "what breaks?"
The Insurance and Retail series explore how AI reshapes specific industries. Foundations explores the underlying mechanics — the security vulnerabilities, trust architectures, and systemic risks that apply across every industry where agents operate. These simulations are grounded in published research and translate academic frameworks into interactive experiences.
The Players
Enterprise
Deploys agents for business operations
Agent System
Autonomous agents performing delegated tasks
Web Environment
The open web that agents consume
Adversary
Actor engineering traps in the environment
Human Overseer
Reviews and approves agent outputs
Defence Layer
Technical and ecosystem-level mitigations
Agent Security
What happens when the digital environment becomes adversarial — when websites, documents, and data sources are engineered to manipulate the AI agents that consume them. Grounded in Google DeepMind's taxonomy of AI Agent Traps.
Systemic Risk
When multiple AI agents share an environment and one is compromised, how does contamination cascade through the system? An exploration of multi-agent failure modes.
The Cascade
Trust Architecture
How do you build trust in a system where agents make decisions humans cannot fully verify? An exploration of verification, provenance, and accountability.