Examples

Agent-native in practice: ConferenceOS, Agent Kontrol, and Cortex

Three projects we build and run show different faces of agent-native: ConferenceOS (a product agents operate), Agent Kontrol (the control room for the agents themselves), and Cortex (memory every agent shares). Each is described with what is real today and what is still being built. These are self-reported.

By Mark Hinkle · Updated 2026-10-21

Agent-run product

ConferenceOS: conference management software that agents can run

ConferenceOS is an open source (Apache-2.0) conference operating system, positioned as AI-native and agent-run. Event teams hand repetitive work and plain-language requests to authorized agents and keep control of sensitive actions.

Built for: Running events: registration, attendees, speakers, sponsors, and onsite check-in. It runs the All Things AI conference and is the proof point for the platform.
Scoped authority: Role-based access control with six roles (Attendee, Organizer, Admin, Sponsor, Volunteer, Partner), each with distinct permissions and views. An agent acts inside a role, not as an all-powerful login.
Parity: The goal is that what an organizer does by hand is something an authorized agent can do, so the UI is one client of many.
Conversational, additive: Plain-language requests sit on top of the structured system; sensitive actions still require a human checkpoint.
Still exploring: A sponsor team calendar, driven by an agentic chat planner, is an idea on the backlog and is not shipped. Sponsor teams currently coordinate rooms and shifts over texts and spreadsheets, which is the kind of messy intent conversation handles well.

Agent governance

Agent Kontrol: governing and observing a fleet of AI agents

Agent Kontrol is an open source control room for a fleet of agents running across multiple machines and vendors. It combines a task queue and a backlog board with a global attention strip that shows what needs a human right now.

Built for: People who run several coding agents at once and need one place to see state, queue work, and spot what is blocked.
Scoped authority: Doctrine learned the hard way: one coordinator, one reviewer from a different vendor, deterministic gates, a human on exceptions, and no agent approves another agent’s permission prompts.
Verifiable: An attention strip sorted by urgency, and usage headroom shown honestly: an unknown quota never reads as zero.
Why it matters: As agents become users of everything, someone has to govern and observe the agents. That is its own product category, often called agent governance and agent observability.

Shared memory over MCP

Cortex: memory that every agent reads

Cortex is a shared memory service exposed over MCP, so Claude, Codex, Grok, and Hermes read the same distilled facts instead of each keeping private notes.

Built for: Continuity across sessions and across vendors: decisions, findings, and state written once and recalled anywhere.
Legibility: Facts are atomic, self-contained, and carry their source, so a cold agent can use them without the original conversation.
Composable: Small MCP tools (recall, search, remember) that any client can call. MCP OAuth support broadens compatibility with clients that only speak OAuth.

What do the three have in common?

Agents are users from day one, not added after launch.
Authority is scoped, and humans keep the irreversible decisions.
Everything is legible to a cold reader: structured, sourced, and written down.
Conversation sits on top of structure, never instead of it.

Compare your own product with the 12-question scorecard, or read about where interfaces are heading.

Frequently asked questions

What is an example of an agent-native product?+

ConferenceOS is an open source conference operating system built so authorized AI agents can run event operations through plain-language requests while humans keep control of sensitive actions.

What is Agent Kontrol?+

Agent Kontrol is an open source control room for a fleet of AI agents across machines and vendors, with a task queue, a backlog board, and a global “needs you” attention strip.

What is Cortex?+

Cortex is a shared memory service exposed over MCP so different agents, including Claude, Codex, Grok, and Hermes, read the same distilled facts.