Halliday has raised $20 million in Sequence A funding to develop AI brokers that may safely function on blockchain networks with out requiring conventional good 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 indicators rising confidence in Halliday’s method to fixing one in every of AI’s thorniest challenges: safely deploying autonomous brokers in decentralized environments the place errors will be pricey and irreversible.
“AI on blockchain has remained inaccessible attributable to compliance and security issues,” stated Griffin Dunaif, CEO of Halliday, in an unique interview with VentureBeat. “Usually with good contract improvement for AI brokers, any minor mistake could cause a breach, leaving them susceptible. For AI to function onchain, there must be sturdy security infrastructure the place companies 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 sure that autonomous techniques can execute duties inside strictly outlined parameters with out the danger of exploits or unintended actions.
“We’ve constructed the correct tooling with our workflow protocol to make secure AI attainable with immutable guardrails onchain,” defined Dunaif. “The protocol ensures that no occasion, not even Halliday, can circumvent the guardrails positioned on duties.”
This method may remedy a basic problem in AI improvement: find out how to permit autonomous brokers to work together with monetary techniques and digital property whereas sustaining safety and compliance. By embedding security constraints straight 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
In contrast to many AI startups saying funding earlier than their know-how 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 complicated, multi-step processes like treasury administration, recurring funds, and business-to-business transactions. These autonomous techniques can function throughout a number of blockchain networks whereas sustaining compliance with predefined guidelines.
“Halliday handles all of the heavy lifting: protocol integrations like bridges and DEXs, information translation, and dependable multi-chain execution,” stated Dunaif. “With workflows, groups can create breakthrough purposes in hours, not years.”
Enterprise AI adoption accelerated by eradicating blockchain programming boundaries
For enterprise prospects, Halliday’s know-how gives a path to leveraging blockchain networks and AI brokers with out specialised improvement groups or the safety dangers sometimes related to good contracts.
This might dramatically speed up adoption of AI in monetary companies, the place establishments have proven curiosity in autonomous techniques however have been deterred by safety and compliance issues. In response to Dunaif, Halliday gives a “10,000x improvement price discount,” probably reworking AI-blockchain integration from a capital-intensive mission to an operational expense.
“There’s alternative to increase past web3 and convey our Workflow Protocol to fintechs and banks seeking to enter the crypto enviornment, whether or not by stablecoin subscriptions, international yield merchandise, or programmable treasury administration,” Dunaif famous.
Will secure 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 complicated monetary transactions with out human intervention may dramatically scale back prices and allow new companies. Nevertheless, the danger of rogue AI brokers or exploitable code has restricted enterprise adoption.
Halliday’s method goals to resolve this downside by making a middleware layer that handles safety and execution whereas permitting companies to give attention to 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 know-how to be utilized by builders who’re creating their very own blockchains,” defined Dunaif when discussing how Halliday works with conventional monetary infrastructure.
The way forward for enterprise AI: Automated workflows substitute guide processes
With the brand new funding, Halliday plans to speed up improvement of its AI workflow protocol and increase its group. The corporate has already attracted expertise from main know-how corporations, together with Alphabet, Meta, Netflix, Stripe, and Compound.
Halliday Funds, a first-party software constructed on the protocol, demonstrates how AI brokers can simplify complicated 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 new customers.
“By safely delegating workflows to autonomous techniques, corresponding to brokers or software program, groups can create breakthrough purposes in hours, not years,” Dunaif stated, describing his imaginative and prescient for a way AI will remodel enterprise operations.
As companies proceed to discover AI’s potential to automate complicated workflows, options like Halliday’s that handle the basic challenges of security and compliance may play a vital function in bringing these applied sciences to mainstream adoption.
