Identify, authenticate, and monetize AI agent traffic at scale with F5 Distributed Cloud Bot Defense and Skyfire's Know Your Agent (KYA) protocol

F5, Inc. (NASDAQ:FFIV), the global leader in delivering and securing every app and API, and Skyfire, the agentic commerce platform providing identity and payment infrastructure for AI agents, today announced a technology partnership designed to enable enterprises to securely allow verified AI agents while still blocking malicious actors. The planned integration brings Skyfire's open Know Your Agent (KYA) protocol to the F5 Application Delivery and Security Platform (ADSP), intended to enable merchants and content providers to distinguish legitimate, revenue-generating AI agent traffic from malicious automation.

AI agents are rapidly becoming the new consumers of the Internet, autonomously browsing, researching, and purchasing on behalf of humans. Yet the same bot management systems that protect merchants from scraping, credential stuffing, and fraud can also block legitimate agent-driven commerce. Today's announcement addresses that challenge head-on: using KYA, F5 customers will be able to recognize Skyfire-verified agents and grant them appropriate access, transforming what was previously blocked automation into authenticated, monetizable interactions.

"The rise of agentic AI represents a fundamental shift in how commerce happens online," said John Maddison, Chief Marketing Officer at F5. "Merchants need the ability to distinguish between a malicious agent or bot and a verified AI agent acting on behalf of a real customer. Through our partnership with Skyfire, F5 customers will gain that visibility. This combined solution enables them to confidently open their doors to the next generation of Internet traffic while maintaining the security posture they depend on."

F5 Distributed Cloud Bot Defense functionality within the F5 ADSP protects the web's largest enterprises from sophisticated automated threats. Through the Skyfire integration, F5 extends its industry-leading bot detection and policy enforcement capabilities to recognize agents carrying Skyfire's KYA identity tokens. Merchants using F5 Distributed Cloud Bot Defense can:

Enhance verification of AI agent traffic through their existing F5 bot defense infrastructure, rather than blocking automated requests indiscriminately.
Gain visibility into agent identity including agentic AI-based traffic, the agent itself, and the human or enterprise principal behind the request, delivered in the Skyfire KYA token.
Safely enable agentic commerce by allowing agents to complete standard eCommerce checkout flows using Skyfire's tokenized payment credentials, preserving the merchant's existing infrastructure.
Monetize AI-driven traffic by linking agent requests to accountable, paying actors.

F5 bot defense customers are able to validate agents with no additional steps. Customers who want to accept agentic payments via the Skyfire platform can do so easily. The integration is designed to work within merchants' existing technology stacks. No re-platforming is required. Skyfire's KYA protocol uses standard JSON Web Tokens (JWTs) compatible with existing OAuth2, HTTP, and JWKS infrastructure, and F5's bot defense capabilities interpret these tokens at the edge to enforce access policies in real time.

"AI agents are the new consumers of the Internet, but they've been locked out by security measures designed for a human-only web," said Amir Sarhangi, CEO and co-founder of Skyfire. "Through our partnership with F5, we're enabling an Internet where verified agents are first-class participants in the digital economy, where identity and security protocols work with them, not against them. F5's unmatched scale in protecting the world's largest enterprises makes this a pivotal step toward making agentic commerce a reality everywhere."

Skyfire integration with F5 Distributed Cloud Bot Defense will be available by April 30, 2026. F5 customers will be able to enable Skyfire‑verified agent traffic through the F5 Distributed Cloud Console. Merchants and website owners interested in integrating the Skyfire KYAPay protocol can learn more at skyfire.xyz.

Supporting materials

Blog: Your next million customers will be AI. Security must evolve.
Blog: Skyfire and F5 integration details – Verified AI agent identity
Overview: F5 Distributed Cloud Bot Defense
Overview: Skyfire KYAPay protocol
Blog: The future of eCommerce is agentic AI

About F5

F5, Inc. (NASDAQ:FFIV) is the global leader that delivers and secures every app. Backed by three decades of expertise, F5 has built the industry's premier platform—F5 Application Delivery and Security Platform (ADSP)—to deliver and secure every app, every API, anywhere: on-premises, in the cloud, at the edge, and across hybrid, multicloud environments. F5 is committed to innovating and partnering with the world's largest and most advanced organizations to deliver fast, available, and secure digital experiences. Together, we help each other thrive and bring a better digital world to life.

F5 is a trademark, service mark, or tradename of F5, Inc., in the U.S. and other countries. All other product and company names herein may be trademarks of their respective owners. The use of the terms "partner," "partners," or "partnership" in this press release does not imply a joint venture, agency relationship, or other formal business relationship between F5 and Skyfire.

Forward‑looking statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements regarding the planned integration of Skyfire's Know Your Agent (KYA) protocol with F5 Distributed Cloud Bot Defense and the anticipated capabilities and benefits of that integration. Actual product availability, features, and results are subject to change.

About Skyfire

Skyfire is the complete agentic commerce platform for AI agents and merchants. Skyfire gives AI and agents everything they need to transact autonomously, including verified identity for web access and account creation, tokenized credit cards, real-time micropayments, and instant programmatic checkout. With Skyfire's open Know Your Agent (KYA) protocol and fast, flexible payment rails, platforms can allow their users to scalably sign up, authenticate, and transact across APIs, websites, and marketplaces without leaving their LLM interface. The company is backed by Evolution and DCVC, a16z CSX, Coinbase Ventures, Neuberger Berman, Brevan Howard Digital, and other leading investors. Learn more at skyfire.xyz.

Source: F5, Inc.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260318174295/en/

Dan Sorensen

F5

(650) 228-4842

d.sorensen@f5.com

Kevin Brown

Be Good PR, for Skyfire

(415) 818-6839

kevin@begood.pr

F5 and Skyfire Partner to Advance Secure Agentic Commerce for the Enterprise