// GLOSSARY -- AGENTIC FINANCE
What is Virtual Agent Economy?
The emergent economic system in which autonomous AI agents produce, consume, and exchange value at scales and speeds beyond direct human oversight, as described by Tomasev et al. (Google DeepMind, 2025).
WHY IT MATTERS
The virtual agent economy is the economic layer that emerges when agents can transact autonomously. Agents paying for compute, negotiating service contracts, purchasing APIs, settling debts with other agents — all at machine speed.
This economy needs governance infrastructure. Without spending controls, budget enforcement, and audit trails, the virtual agent economy is uncontrollable.
HOW POLICYLAYER USES THIS
PolicyLayer is governance infrastructure for the virtual agent economy — ensuring every agent-initiated transaction follows human-defined rules.