IIIT-H develops multi-agent AI framework for cloud operations

Hyderabad: A joint research effort between the IIIT-H and cloud automation startup MontyCloud led to a breakthrough in multi-agent AI architecture. The work, aimed at improving cloud operations, has been shortlisted for the best paper award at the prestigious International Conference on AI Engineering (CAIN) 2025.

It’s based on the Meta Orchestrator of Your Agents (MOYA), which enables multiple AI agents to collaborate on cloud management tasks. Unlike traditional models that rely on a single large language model (LLM), MOYA distributes responsibilities among specialised agents, allowing for greater flexibility and efficiency.

Managing cloud operations involves handling vast amounts of data, automating workflows and ensuring compliance with security and performance standards. IIITH’s Software Architecture for Sustainability (SA4S) group, led by Prof. Karthik Vaidyanathan, initially developed a conversational AI copilot named Marvin to assist users with cloud tasks. However, Marvin’s reliance on a single LLM proved limiting.

“We realised that if multiple agents, each with their own expertise, could collaborate, we could overcome many challenges of scalability and maintainability,” said Prof. Vaidyanathan. The result was MOYA, a framework that orchestrates diverse AI agents, each specialising in areas like security, performance and sustainability.

Existing multi-agent frameworks did not meet the team’s requirements, prompting them to build a custom solution. Rudra Dhar, a PhD student at IIITH, described it as “a rewarding experience” since pre-built solutions failed to provide the needed flexibility. Sreemaee Akshathala, a research engineer, added that MOYA transformed from a research challenge into a fully functional engineering tool.

Beyond cloud operations, the team looks at MOYA as a foundation for broader AI applications. A developer toolkit and open-source release are in the pipeline, with a hackathon on March 15 at IIITH set to explore its potential. “By enabling coordinated action from multiple agents, we are empowering the next generation of autonomous applications,” said Kannan Parthasarathy, CTO of MontyCloud.