AdaptAgent : integrated architecture for adaptive workflow and agents

AdaptAgent: Integrated Architecture for Adaptive Workflow and Agents By N.C. Narendra Technology Cell, E-Solutions Center (ESC) Hewlett-Packard India Software Operations Ltd; 29 Cunningham Road, Bangalore – 560 052; INDIA Phone: +91-80-2251554; Fax: +91-80-2200196 Email: [email protected] Abstract Adaptive Workflow and Software Agent technology have the potential to revolutionize B2B E-Commerce in the 21 century. Adaptive workflow allows for dynamism in business process definition and enactment, while Agent technology helps to automate decision making among the entities executing the adaptive workflows. Hence integrating Adaptive Workflow and Agents is highly essential for effectively facilitating B2B E-Commerce. However, efforts to integrate the two have been lacking so far. In this paper we describe our work on developing and implementing an integrated architecture called AdaptAgent where Adaptive Workflows and Multi-Agent Conversations are modeled, executed and adapted together seamlessly. AdaptAgent extends our previous work on a 3-tier adaptive workflow architecture [Narendra1]; it also builds on our earlier work on what we call “flexible workflow support” [Narendra3], which provides a means for increased flexibility in defining and managing adaptive workflows.