About
The Foundation for Agentic Networks (FAN) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit registered in the United States and based in Cambridge, MA. We steward the open-source and partnership work behind the agentic web: promoting open standards, advancing shared knowledge, and accelerating responsible adoption worldwide.
AI agents are learning to discover, communicate, and transact on our behalf. The infrastructure they run on will either be open — like the web itself — or owned. Holding the interests of residents, governments, businesses, and industry in balance is a nonprofit's job, not any single stakeholder's.
Team
The foundation is powered by researchers, operators, engineers, and advisors who believe the agentic web should be built in the open. One team works across every initiative.
The Leadership Team
Prof. Ramesh Raskar
Chairman
Professor at MIT and technology leader, leads the Camera Culture Research Lab.
Chris Pease
President and CEO
Strategic operator and relationship-driven leader focused on building high-leverage partnerships.
Gunjan Sinha
Board Member
Indian-American tech entrepreneur and executive, co-founder of Project NANDA.
Jennifer Jordan
Board Member
Early-stage investor supporting startups with strategic growth guidance.
Paul Baier
Board Member
CEO of GAI Insights, HBS Executive Fellow on AI, Forbes author.
The Humans Powering Growth
Alex Stanton
Director of Strategy
Founder in IT/Cyber. Security and AI strategist with nonprofit board experience.
Ashutosh Iwale
Technical Program Manager
Aspiring AI & robotics leader; Master's in Robotics from Northeastern.
Emeric Chang
Student Chapter Lead
Columbia University graduate with political science and computer science background.
Shrikant Kshirsagar
Director of Education
Founder/CEO with background at IIT Bombay, AWS, Intel, and UC Berkeley.
Ankur Shinde
Head of Media
AI/ML systems specialist building scalable real-world machine learning solutions.
Blake Mauri
Small Business Program Lead
Founder and startup builder focused on AI-driven ecommerce and agentic tech.
Daniel Windham
Civic Agents Program Lead
Ex-founder/CTO, decade+ in product engineering and R&D.
Ana Machuca
Digital Trailblazer
Marketing professional passionate about creativity, branding, and growth.
The Humans Powering Technology
Aditya Sharma
Open Source Lead
At IIIT-Delhi, passionate about software development and emerging technologies.
Maria Gorskikh
Open Source Lead
Founder and AI researcher focused on autonomous agents and human-AI collaboration.
Mihir Sheth
Engineer
Engineer with a background in game design.
Umamaheswa Edara
Engineer
Technology innovator and co-founder/CTO focused on agent-based systems.
Karan Bharadwaj
Contributing Engineer
Versatile technology leader, CTO and blockchain architect with physics background.
Rohan Khanna
Research Collaborator
AI systems architect driving Internet of AI Agents innovation.
Meet the Advisors
Sam Rosen
Enterprise Advisory Council Member
Strategic AI & technology leader blending business insight with engineering.
Heather Fraser
Strategy Advisor
Strategic finance and operations executive specializing in private equity.
Brendan McSheffrey
Education Programs Advisor
Founder & Managing Partner driving real-world AI adoption and innovation.
Nikolay Vyahhi
Education Programs Advisor
Strategic AI & technology leader blending business insight with engineering.
Mahesh Lambe
Scientific Advisor
Serial entrepreneur and technology leader building AI agents and enterprise software.
How the work fits together
Project NANDA
NANDA is the open protocol for agent identity, discovery, and coordination — the plumbing of the agentic web. It originated at MIT and provides the index of federated agent registries, communication interfaces, and open-source tooling that lets agents work across platforms in a decentralized, protocol-neutral way. Every initiative below is built on it.
Visit the site →Civic Agents
Civic Agents is where the foundation meets public services: working with governments, researchers, and communities to build resident-first agent infrastructure in the open. An agent that acts on someone's behalf will know more about them than any social platform ever has — Civic Agents exists to make sure that power stays with residents.
Visit the site →SMB Agents
SMB Agents is where the foundation meets Main Street: making sure the businesses that hold most of the world's local, everyday commercial relationships aren't the last ones connected — or worse, connected only through closed platforms they don't control.
Explore the initiative →