Halliday has raised $20 million in Sequence A funding to develop AI brokers that may safely function on blockchain networks with out requiring conventional sensible contract improvement. The funding spherical, led by Andreessen Horowitz’s crypto arm (a16z crypto), brings the corporate’s whole funding to over $26 million.
The funding alerts rising confidence in Halliday’s strategy to fixing one in every of AI’s thorniest challenges: safely deploying autonomous brokers in decentralized environments the place errors will be expensive and irreversible.
“AI on blockchain has remained inaccessible due to compliance and safety concerns,” stated Griffin Dunaif, CEO of Halliday, in an unique interview with VentureBeat. “Typically with smart contract development for AI agents, any minor mistake can cause a breach, leaving them vulnerable. For AI to operate onchain, there needs to be robust safety infrastructure where businesses have oversight of AI-enabled automations.”
How Halliday’s security protocol makes AI brokers viable for enterprise blockchain purposes
Halliday’s core innovation, the Agentic Workflow Protocol (AWP), creates what the corporate calls “immutable guardrails” for AI brokers working on blockchain networks. These guardrails be certain that autonomous programs can execute duties inside strictly outlined parameters with out the danger of exploits or unintended actions.
“We’ve built the proper tooling with our workflow protocol to make safe AI possible with immutable guardrails onchain,” defined Dunaif. “The protocol ensures that no party, not even Halliday, can circumvent the guardrails placed on tasks.”
This strategy may clear up a elementary problem in AI improvement: methods to permit autonomous brokers to work together with monetary programs and digital belongings whereas sustaining safety and compliance. By embedding security constraints instantly into the protocol layer, Halliday goals to make AI brokers reliable sufficient for enterprise purposes.
AI-powered treasury administration and B2B automation already in manufacturing
Not like many AI startups saying funding earlier than their expertise reaches manufacturing, Halliday has already deployed its AI-enabled workflow engine with a number of high-profile companions, together with DeFi Kingdoms, Core Pockets by Ava Labs, and ApeChain.
The corporate’s workflows allow AI brokers to automate advanced, multi-step processes like treasury administration, recurring funds, and business-to-business transactions. These autonomous programs can function throughout a number of blockchain networks whereas sustaining compliance with predefined guidelines.
“Halliday handles all the heavy lifting: protocol integrations like bridges and DEXs, data translation, and reliable multi-chain execution,” stated Dunaif. “With workflows, teams can create breakthrough applications in hours, not years.”
Enterprise AI adoption accelerated by eradicating blockchain programming limitations
For enterprise prospects, Halliday’s expertise gives a path to leveraging blockchain networks and AI brokers with out specialised improvement groups or the safety dangers usually related to sensible contracts.
This might dramatically speed up adoption of AI in monetary companies, the place establishments have proven curiosity in autonomous programs however have been deterred by safety and compliance issues. Based on Dunaif, Halliday gives a “10,000x development cost reduction,” doubtlessly reworking AI-blockchain integration from a capital-intensive venture to an operational expense.
“There’s opportunity to expand beyond web3 and bring our Workflow Protocol to fintechs and banks looking to enter the crypto arena, whether through stablecoin subscriptions, global yield products, or programmable treasury management,” Dunaif famous.
Will protected AI brokers unlock the subsequent wave of enterprise blockchain adoption?
The intersection of AI and blockchain has lengthy promised highly effective new enterprise fashions. Autonomous brokers that may execute advanced monetary transactions with out human intervention may dramatically cut back prices and allow new companies. Nonetheless, the danger of rogue AI brokers or exploitable code has restricted enterprise adoption.
Halliday’s strategy goals to resolve this drawback by making a middleware layer that handles safety and execution whereas permitting companies to concentrate on defining the logic of their AI brokers. This separation of issues may make AI-blockchain integration extra accessible to mainstream enterprises.
“We’re extending Stripe’s technology to be utilized by developers who are creating their own blockchains,” defined Dunaif when discussing how Halliday works with conventional monetary infrastructure.
The way forward for enterprise AI: Automated workflows substitute handbook processes
With the brand new funding, Halliday plans to speed up improvement of its AI workflow protocol and increase its crew. The corporate has already attracted expertise from main expertise firms, together with Alphabet, Meta, Netflix, Stripe, and Compound.
Halliday Funds, a first-party software constructed on the protocol, demonstrates how AI brokers can simplify advanced processes. It gives an end-to-end funds answer that makes use of AI to deal with the complexities of blockchain transactions, decreasing the barrier for brand spanking new customers.
“By safely delegating workflows to autonomous systems, such as agents or software, teams can create breakthrough applications in hours, not years,” Dunaif stated, describing his imaginative and prescient for a way AI will rework enterprise operations.
As companies proceed to discover AI’s potential to automate advanced workflows, options like Halliday’s that handle the elemental challenges of security and compliance may play a vital function in bringing these applied sciences to mainstream adoption.
Each day insights on enterprise use instances with VB Each day
If you wish to impress your boss, VB Each day has you coated. We provide the inside scoop on what firms are doing with generative AI, from regulatory shifts to sensible deployments, so you possibly can share insights for optimum ROI.
An error occured.
