COMPEL Glossary / multi-agent-system
Multi-Agent System
A multi-agent system (MAS) is an AI architecture in which multiple autonomous agents, each with specialized capabilities or knowledge domains, collaborate to accomplish tasks that no single agent could handle effectively alone.
What this means in practice
Agents may communicate, negotiate, delegate subtasks, verify each other's outputs, and collectively reach decisions through various orchestration patterns. For organizations, multi-agent systems offer powerful capabilities for complex enterprise workflows but introduce governance challenges including accountability across agents, audit trail complexity, cost escalation from inter-agent communication, and emergent behaviors that may not have been anticipated by any individual agent's designers. In COMPEL, multi-agent governance is addressed in Module 3.3, Article 11 on enterprise agentic AI platform strategy and Module 3.4, Articles 11-12 on agentic governance architecture and risk frameworks.
Why it matters
Multi-agent systems offer powerful capabilities for complex enterprise workflows but introduce governance challenges that single-agent systems do not face. Accountability becomes distributed across agents, audit trails grow complex, costs can escalate from inter-agent communication, and emergent behaviors may arise that no individual agent's designers anticipated. Organizations deploying multi-agent architectures need governance frameworks that address these systemic risks.
How COMPEL uses it
Multi-agent governance is addressed in Module 3.3, Article 11 on enterprise agentic AI platform strategy and Module 3.4, Articles 11-12 on agentic governance architecture and risk frameworks. During Model, multi-agent orchestration patterns and governance controls are designed. The Produce stage implements agent coordination and monitoring. The Evaluate stage assesses system-level behavior and cost efficiency across the agent ensemble.
Related articles in the Body of Knowledge
Related Terms
Other glossary terms mentioned in this entry's definition and context.