SaaS was the dominant service syntax of the previous generation.
Its default assumptions were stable:
- a human user,
- a graphical interface,
- and workflow interaction mediated by screens.
That interface assumption is no longer stable.
As AI agents become operational actors, services must become legible and executable to non-human users.
Core Position
Service-as-Agent-Service treats service not as an application surface, but as a structural unit that can be:
- parsed,
- authorized,
- invoked,
- delegated,
- composed,
- and audited by agents.
This is not “SaaS with AI,” and it is not automation via prompts.
It is service as a machine-operable institution fragment.
Structural Requirements
A Service-as-Agent-Service must support:
1. Parsability
The service boundary must be machine-readable.
Like:
- HTML defining a document surface,
- PEPPOL defining interoperable procurement exchange,
Service-as-Agent-Service defines service surfaces that agents can interpret without UI conventions.
2. Authorizability
Invocation must carry explicit authority constraints.
A service must expose:
- what may be executed,
- under which roles,
- within which scopes,
- with what traceability.
Authorization is part of the service syntax, not an external policy appendix.
3. Executability
The service must be runnable as structured action, not merely describable as intent.
Execution must admit:
- state tracking,
- completion confirmation,
- failure modes,
- and escalation routes.
4. Composability
Services must compose without fragile prompt glue.
Composition requires:
- stable schemas,
- bounded semantics,
- and predictable interfaces across agent contexts.
Applied Verification
This structure in applied domains where accountability and traceability are non-negotiable:
- accounting,
- procurement,
- software development,
- and even dance, fitness, coaching operations.
The verification focus is whether agents can:
- decompose and delegate tasks,
- track state and confirm delivery,
- enforce schema-level execution constraints and policy.
These are not feature tests. They are structural tests.
Why This Matters
SaaS assumed humans clicking forms.
Service-as-Agent-Service assumes agents operating execution structures.
This is not an application category shift. It is a governance boundary shift: services become institutional skeletons— units through which responsibility and legitimacy can be operationalized.
Status
This page states a position.
Implementation notes and applied results are documented separately as field notes and research artifacts.
Service-as-Agent-Service is a structural category proposal, not a product pitch.