> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://www.christiandussol.dev/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://www.christiandussol.dev/ai-native/kubernetes-as-ai-substrate/one-stack-two-foundations.md). # One Stack, Two foundations ## The agentic floor: where agents live, and who governs it
The top floor of the substrate is where agents live: how they connect to tools and data, how they are identified, how they are secured. Two foundations are defining that layer in parallel. The **Agentic AI Foundation** hosts the emerging agent standards and tooling, from connection protocols like MCP to harnesses like goose. The **CNCF** governs how those workloads run portably on Kubernetes. They are not competing, and they are not separate movements anymore. The CNCF's own *Cloud Native Agentic Standards* document writes the other foundation's projects into its own guidance, records where each protocol landed, and cites the inference routing layer from the floor below as part of the same picture. **The agentic layer is being built on top of the infrastructure floors, by overlapping communities, in the open.** ### What the field note covers * How the two foundations divide the work, and where their guidance already overlaps by design * What the CNCF's agentic standards document actually says, and why it citing AAIF projects matters more than the announcement did * The security guidance, read from a regulated seat: unique identity per agent, short-lived credentials, least privilege, tamper-proof audit logs. A controls checklist a bank already recognizes, now specified for autonomous agents * Why this convergence is faster and more open than previous waves ### Read * **Medium article**: [Field Note: One Stack, Two Foundations (CNCF and AAIF)](https://medium.com/@christian.dussol/field-note-one-stack-two-foundations-755004da33df) * **LinkedIn Pulse**: [Field Note: One Stack, Two Foundations](https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/field-note-one-stack-two-foundations-christian-dussol-af56e/)