Every network call costs time. When a buyer agent and a seller system have to round-trip over the open internet for each step, the delays add up, and in an auction milliseconds are money. ARTF takes a different approach: bring the agent to the inventory instead of talking to it across the network.
ARTF (Agentic Real-Time Framework) runs agents co-located with the host platform, packaged in containers that execute next to the inventory rather than calling in from outside. Removing the network hop cuts latency sharply, and keeping the work local gives tighter control over data, since signals do not have to leave the host to be used.
You have seen this instinct before. In Track E, moving the auction to Prebid Server put work closer to where it runs to cut browser cost. ARTF takes the same idea to the agent layer: run the agent where the decision happens.
| Network-protocol calls | ARTF (co-located) | |
|---|---|---|
| Latency | A round-trip per step | No network hop; runs in place |
| Data | Signals travel to the agent | Work happens next to the data |
| Cost | Simple to integrate | Runs another party’s code beside yours |
Watch out
Co-location is a trade. You gain speed and data locality, but you are running a containerized agent from another party inside your platform, which raises isolation, security, and trust questions a network call does not. That is part of why a trusted agent registry matters.
Quick check
Why does running an agent co-located with the publisher platform cut latency, and what new concern does it introduce?