The Solana Foundation positions the network as the core infrastructure for an emerging “agent” Internet, in which AI systems, not humans, initiate and execute economic activity.
“AI isn’t really a vertical. It’s a platform shift… affecting everything across all industries, including crypto,” Vibhu Norby, chief product officer of the Solana Foundation, said during a panel at the Digital Asset Summit (DAS) in New York.
Payments are at the center of Solana’s strategy. Norby said the network has already “processed 15 million on-chain payments from agents,” largely related to machine-to-machine trading. “The programmatic aspect of crypto payments is what makes them interesting for agents,” he said, adding that “stablecoins will be the default that agents use to pay for any IT resource.”
This shift could fundamentally reshape Internet business models, Norby believes. “Agent payments are likely to completely change the way the Internet is monetized,” he said, noting the ability to support sub-cent, pay-as-you-go transactions that traditional railroads can’t handle.
The Solana Foundation says the network’s performance-driven design gives it an advantage in this new paradigm. “Agents are cold, calculated machines…they don’t adhere to cryptographic religiosity,” Norby said. “If you ask an agent what’s the best way to pay for something with crypto, most of the time Solana comes up at the top.”
At the same time, advances in AI are eroding long-standing developer barriers, noting that tools now make it easier for developers and machines to build across ecosystems.
In response, Solana developers are building directly for AI systems. “What agents like are APIs, documentation and skills,” Norby said, pointing to initiatives like machine-readable “skills” files and AI-driven development platforms.
Looking ahead, Norby expects a sea change in user behavior: “The default way people will interact with crypto will be through their agent… 95-99% of all transactions… will come from LLM. »
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