vLEI Model: Verifying AI Agent Identity & Authority

A new verifiable Legal Entity Identifier, or vLEI, model aims to answer critical questions about AI agents. This model can show who sent an AI agent, what it can do, and for how long. Alexandre Kech, CEO of GLEIF, highlights the unprecedented shift towards agent-initiated transactions. These AI agents are discovering services, negotiating terms, and initiating payments. However, there's a gap in proving which organization stands behind an agent and who authorized it. The financial services sector is leading in agentic AI deployments. But this technology also touches payments, trade, supply chains, digital assets, and government services. The core challenge is translating legal principles into technical practices for these agents. The vLEI model creates a cryptographic trust chain. It provides verified organizational identity in the digital world. This allows counterparties to verify the identity, authority, and role of an agent acting for a legal entity. It also shows the boundaries of its authority. This system wires accountability into each transaction, making trust depend on evidence. This matters because it provides a way to ensure accountability and control as AI agents become more prevalent in transactions.