Skyfire & Cequence enable secure digital access for AI agents

Skyfire and Cequence Security have announced a partnership aimed at enabling secure, compliant access to digital services for autonomous AI agents.

The partnership focuses on integrating Cequence Security's API security and bot management capabilities with Skyfire's payment and identity network, which has been developed specifically for the AI agent economy.

Cequence Security reports that it currently secures over 8 billion API interactions daily and protects more than 3 billion user accounts across numerous Fortune 500 and global enterprises. Its existing systems distinguish between malicious and benign bots. With the addition of Skyfire's technology, Cequence's platforms can now identify Skyfire-verified AI agents as trusted automation.

The growing role of AI agents as consumers of online services is presenting challenges for both access and security. Many digital platforms require credentials, identity verification, and payment authorisation, which tend to presume the presence of a human user. Without these, AI agents are often blocked from engaging with such services.

Skyfire addresses this limitation by providing infrastructure that allows AI agents to present verified credentials and payment methods programmatically. This allows digital services—ranging from paywalled websites to private APIs—to be accessed autonomously and securely, using peer-to-peer connections similar to those used by human users.

Cequence's support for the Skyfire identity and payment protocol enables security teams to recognise and authorise verified AI agents while continuing to block untrusted automation that may be associated with scraping, fraud or abuse.

Amir Sarhangi, CEO and co-founder of Skyfire, commented, "AI agents aren't just scraping the surface of the web anymore. They're transacting, subscribing, booking, and buying. But they've been locked out by security measures that assume every brand engagement is coming from a user who has fingers and a keyboard. Through our partnership with Cequence, we're enabling an internet where agents are first-class participants in the digital economy, and where identity and security protocols work with them, not against them."

Skyfire's protocol assigns AI agents programmable wallets, which can be funded through various sources, including payment cards, ACH, wire transfers, or USDC. These wallets are integrated with identity credentials and payment rules, making them suitable for enterprise use. Cequence Security's bot management platform evaluates a range of behavioural and contextual signals—including new Skyfire-issued identifiers—to enhance trust in automated interactions with business services.

The organisations say that this combination addresses the challenge of AI agents accessing valuable digital content behind login walls, anti-bot systems, or compliance requirements that previously blocked non-human users.

Securing APIs is evolving beyond simply blocking attacks; there is increased demand to distinguish and enable trusted forms of automation without compromising performance or customer experience.

Cequence Security's platform is described as combining API visibility with native enforcement. This approach allows teams to detect abnormal behaviour, interpret intent, and enforce access controls without requiring modifications to their existing applications or deploying additional third-party tools.

Where other security approaches may rely on JavaScript, SDKs, or basic risk scores, Cequence employs context-aware detection grounded in traffic patterns and adaptive machine learning to remain ahead of automated threats, while now also authorising verified AI agents.

Ameya Talwalkar, CEO of Cequence, said, "Security should never be a barrier to business. Our mission has always been to protect the internet without slowing innovation, and that includes AI agents. With Skyfire, we now have a shared framework to verify and trust additional non-human users at the edge. This unlocks a new era where businesses can safely serve AI agents the same way they serve human users, securely, seamlessly, and at scale."

Through this integration, both companies aim to support the emerging needs of the AI agent economy by providing secure, autonomous access to digital services while maintaining compliance and protection against fraud.