A man relaxing on a sofa in warm window light, checking his phone with a cat resting on his chest
Way ID

Who's behind the agent?

Way ID gives AI agents a verifiable identity, so the people they reach out to know who's really there.

At a glance

Project
Way ID - verifiable identity for AI agents
My role
Founding contributor - concept, research, first prototype, design + strategy direction, design system
Stage
0 → 1, from inception
Built with
AI, end to end - straight to code
The bet
As AI agents start reaching out to people, we need to know which ones to trust
A person relaxing at home, checking their phone by a window
Agents will reach people where they already are - phone in hand.

Why now

Soon agents won't wait for you to open them. They'll reach out.

Social AI agents are coming: ones that email and message you on their own, not just when you summon them.

The new questionIs this real, or a scam? Do I even reply?

The problem

You can't trust what you can't verify.

Is this the agent of someone I know, or an impersonator? Right now there's no way to tell. Every agent looks equally legitimate, so the safe answer becomes "ignore", and the useful ones get thrown out with the scams.

The idea

Tie every agent to a real, verified identity.

Human / organisation verified identity AI agent unique identifier bound by Way ID
One verified human or org identity, tied to one agent with a unique ID.

Way ID gives each agent a unique identifier, bound to the verified identity behind it. When it reaches out, the recipient can check who's really there.

A Way ID agent card: 'Verified Human Owner', the agent 'Earl the Bot' (@agent.earl), and its human owner Sebastian H. (@human.schorle)
An agent's Way ID - verified, and tied to the human owner behind it.

What it enables

A trusted environment for human-agent contact.

When an agent reaches out, you can check there's a real, accountable identity behind it - then reply, or walk away.

My role

I helped lay the foundation, from the first idea to the first build.

I was there at the start: shaping the concept and research, building the first prototype, and setting the direction for design and strategy.

That early work is the foundation for what Way ID is becoming now.

The Way ID design-system reference site: the headline 'Build consistent. Move with purpose. Stay on brand.' with sections for typography, colour, spacing, motion and components
The AI-first design system - a living brand & component reference.

How I built it

Designed and shipped with AI, end to end.

Straight from idea to working code with AI, plus an AI-first design system, so the product had a foundation to scale on from day one.

Looking ahead

Where it's going

Way ID is early, built ahead of a future that's arriving fast. The hard part was never the cryptography of binding identities. It's the human one: making "verified" mean something before agents-that-reach-out become normal. Setting that direction early is the part I'm proudest of, and the part still being proven as the product grows.

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