Supplier Verification and Cross-Border Payment Use Case

Introduction

This document details a critical business process: the secure verification of a new supplier and the subsequent execution of a cross-border payment. This scenario is common in global trade and presents significant challenges related to trust, compliance, and financial risk. By modeling this workflow using the Agent Ontology, we demonstrate how autonomous agents can collaborate, delegate tasks, and establish an auditable trail for complex transactions. This example highlights the power of semantic modeling to bring clarity, automation, and verifiable accountability to enterprise operations.

User Story: Procuring Parts from a New German Supplier

As a procurement manager at mock company, called ACME Inc. (USA), I want to securely verify a new German supplier, Berlin Precision Parts, and make a cross-border payment of 50,000 EUR for high-precision components, so that I can ensure compliance, mitigate financial risk, and complete the procurement process efficiently.

Key Concepts Illustrated

This use case effectively demonstrates several core concepts of the Agent Ontology:

• Agent: Autonomous entities representing roles within ACME Inc. and external services.
• Intent: The semantic expression of a desired outcome or goal.
• Delegation: The structured transfer of authority and responsibility between agents, defining scope and constraints.
• Capability: The specific skills or functions an agent possesses.
• Action: The execution of a task by an agent.
• Artifact: Tangible or digital outputs produced by actions, often serving as proofs or records.
• SecurityBinding: Mechanisms to ensure the integrity, authenticity, and confidentiality of data or execution environments.
• PaymentMethod: Describing the financial instruments and systems involved in transactions.
• Accountability (via TraceEvent/LedgerRecord): The ability to reconstruct and audit the entire workflow, linking all participants and events to ensure transparency and compliance.

Workflow Breakdown and Ontology Mapping:

1. Initial Procurement Intent

• Description: The process begins when ACME Inc.’s Procurement Agent identifies a need for high-precision components and a potential new supplier, Berlin Precision Parts. This agent formulates the overarching goal for the entire workflow.
• Ontology Mapping: A core:Intent instance is created. Its intent:objective clearly states the business goal: “Procure high-precision components from Berlin Precision Parts and pay 50,000 EUR.” The intent:input might reference the technical specifications for the parts, and intent:output specifies the desired outcome (e.g., receipt of parts and payment confirmation). This Intent acts as the root cause for the subsequent chain of actions and delegations.
• Why it Matters: Explicitly defining the Intent provides a clear, machine-readable goal, enabling downstream agents to understand the purpose of their delegated tasks and ensuring alignment with business objectives.

2. Delegation to Supplier Management

• Description: Recognizing the complexity of onboarding a new international supplier, the Procurement Agent delegates the comprehensive task of supplier management, verification, and payment orchestration to a specialized Supplier Management Agent within ACME Inc.
• Ontology Mapping: A delegation:Delegation instance is created. The delegation:delegatedBy property points to the ProcurementAgent, and delegation:delegatesTo points to the SupplierManagementAgent. Crucially, the delegation:delegationScope is set to a broad instruction like “Verify new supplier Berlin Precision Parts and orchestrate payment of 50,000 EUR for components.” This establishes the initial trust and authority transfer for a multi-faceted task.
• Why it Matters: Delegation formalizes the transfer of responsibility, allowing for modular and specialized agent roles. It ensures that complex tasks are handled by agents with appropriate capabilities and provides a clear chain of command and accountability.

3. Supplier Verification Sub-Delegation

• Description: Before any payment can be made, Berlin Precision Parts must be thoroughly vetted. The Supplier Management Agent, leveraging its network, delegates the specific task of credential verification to a dedicated Verification Agent. This agent is equipped with the necessary capabilities and access to external verification services.
• Ontology Mapping: Another delegation:Delegation instance is created. Here, delegation:delegatedBy is the SupplierManagementAgent, and delegation:delegatesTo is the VerificationAgent. The delegation:delegationScope is narrowed to “Verify credentials of Berlin Precision Parts, including ISO 9001 certification,” reflecting the specific expertise required for this sub-task.
• Why it Matters: Sub-delegation allows for fine-grained control and specialization. It ensures that sensitive tasks like verification are handled by agents with specific security protocols and access rights, enhancing the overall security posture of the procurement process.

4. Verification Execution and Security Binding

• Description: The Verification Agent proceeds to check Berlin Precision Parts’ credentials. This might involve querying a verifiable credential registry, validating digital certificates, or interacting with a trusted third-party auditor. For critical credentials like an ISO 9001 certificate, the integrity and authenticity of the credential itself are paramount. This often involves cryptographic proofs or attestations from a Trusted Execution Environment (TEE).
• Ontology Mapping: A core:Action instance, “Execute Supplier Credential Verification,” is performed by the VerificationAgent. This Action produces a core:Artifact, the “Supplier Verification Report.” The Artifact itself can be enhanced with a security:SecurityBinding to indicate how its integrity is assured. For example, security:cryptographicBinding could be “JWS” (JSON Web Signature) and security:trustModel could be “W3C-VC-JWT” (W3C Verifiable Credentials as JWTs), or even reference a TEE attestation if the credential was issued from such an environment. The core:contextOf property links this Action back to the Delegation_SupplierMgmtToVerification.
• Why it Matters: This step is crucial for establishing trust. By explicitly modeling the Action, the resulting Artifact, and its SecurityBinding, we create a verifiable record of the verification outcome and the cryptographic assurances behind it. This is vital for compliance and risk management.

5. Payment Delegation

• Description: Once the Verification Agent successfully confirms Berlin Precision Parts’ credentials and generates a positive verification report, the Supplier Management Agent receives this Artifact. With the supplier deemed trustworthy, the next logical step is to initiate the payment. The Supplier Management Agent delegates this financial transaction to the Finance Agent.
• Ontology Mapping: A new delegation:Delegation instance is created. delegation:delegatedBy is the SupplierManagementAgent, and delegation:delegatesTo is the FinanceAgent. The delegation:delegationScope is now focused on “Execute cross-border payment of 50,000 EUR to Berlin Precision Parts,” clearly defining the financial mandate.
• Why it Matters: This sequential delegation ensures that payment is only initiated after successful verification, enforcing a critical business rule. It also routes financial operations through a specialized agent with appropriate controls and access to payment systems.

6. Cross-Border Payment Execution

• Description: The Finance Agent is responsible for orchestrating the actual transfer of funds. Since the payment is in EUR and ACME Inc. operates in USD, a currency exchange is required. The Finance Agent might delegate this to an external Forex Agent. Subsequently, the actual transfer to Berlin Precision Parts’ European bank account (via SEPA) is delegated to a Payment Agent.
• Ontology Mapping: This step involves multiple core:Action instances and further delegation:Delegation. The FinanceAgent performs an Action of “Orchestrate Cross-Border Payment.” This action might involve:
  • A Delegation to a ForexAgent for “Exchange USD to 50,000 EUR.” This Delegation leads to a core:Action by the ForexAgent producing a core:Artifact (Forex Exchange Receipt).
  • A subsequent Delegation to a PaymentAgent for “Transfer 50,000 EUR to Berlin Precision Parts via SEPA.” This Delegation leads to a core:Action by the PaymentAgent producing a core:Artifact (Payment Confirmation). The payment:PaymentMethod can be used to specify details like payment:currency (EUR) and payment:paymentSystem (SEPA).
• Why it Matters: Breaking down the payment into sub-delegations and actions provides granular visibility into the financial flow. It allows for tracking currency exchange rates, transaction IDs, and the specific payment rails used, which is essential for financial reconciliation and auditing.

7. Accountability and Ledger Recording

• Description: Throughout this entire multi-agent workflow, every significant event—every Intent created, Delegation made, Action executed, and Artifact produced—is recorded. This creates an immutable, verifiable audit trail that can be stored on a distributed ledger or a secure database.
• Ontology Mapping: accountability:LedgerRecord or core:TraceEvent instances are generated for each step. These records link all relevant Agent, Intent, Delegation, Action, and Artifact instances together using properties like core:recordedIn and accountability:referencesEvent. Each record includes a core:timestamp and potentially a ledger:transactionId.
• Why it Matters: This final layer ensures end-to-end accountability. In a high-stakes scenario like cross-border procurement and payment, a complete and tamper-proof record is vital for regulatory compliance, dispute resolution, and internal governance. It provides irrefutable proof of who did what, when, and under what authority.