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MCP: The Next Big Thing in AI-  What is It, How Does it Work?

Swapnil Pandya

Swapnil Pandya

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what is mcp

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Do you agree or not that these days of the AI ecosystem feel a lot like the early days of the internet? Everyone is excited, innovations are happening daily, but there’s also chaos under the hood. 

Here’s why, 

Each AI agent or framework has its own way of talking to external tools. Some rely on custom APIs, others on wrappers or SDKs, and some are locked into closed ecosystems. Developers spend a huge bundle of their time just making these systems “talk” or “sync” to each other.

This struggle, or we can say fragmentation, slows everything down:

  • Businesses face high integration costs.
  • Developers reinvent the wheel for each new agent.
  • AI adoption becomes inconsistent and fragile.

Let me share a quick example here: Imagine if every website had its own networking standard. Your browser would only work with a handful of sites, and connecting to a new one meant writing a custom connector. That’s the struggling state of AI today.

So, what we need today is a common standard, one universal language that can make these AI agents talk to each other. 

And, that is none other than MCP. The Avatar we all need. 

TL;DR: TCP/IP unified the internet. MCP will unify the AI ecosystem.

  • The AI world today feels a lot like the early web, full of potential but broken by silos.
  • Model Context Protocol (MCP) is fixing that by becoming the universal language that lets all AI agents and tools talk to each other.
  • With MCP, developers won’t need to rebuild integrations for every use case, and businesses can finally scale AI workflows quite easily, just like the internet scaled after TCP/IP.
  • If you want your AI systems to grow, collaborate, and last, then MCP is the foundation (and we highly recommend it).

What Is MCP (Model Context Protocol)?

The Model Context Protocol (MCP) is a standardized protocol that defines how AI agents and tools exchange information, context, and commands.

  • Full Form: Model Context Protocol (MCP)
  • Definition: A communication standard that allows AI models (clients) to interact with external tools, APIs, and environments (servers) in a consistent way.
  • Analogy: Just as HTTP standardizes how browsers and web servers communicate, MCP standardizes how AI clients and servers exchange context.

Why is it called a Protocol?

Because it does what protocols do best:

  • It defines the rules of engagement
  • It makes sure of compatibility between different systems
  • It offers excellent  consistency and predictability

Without MCP, each integration is a custom job. But using MCP, plug-and-play interoperability becomes possible.

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Future Proof Your AI Stack with MCP

It’s time to upgrade your AI architecture for the future. Remember, APIs alone won’t work!

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How MCP Works: Breaking Down the Components

how mcp works

1. Clients

Clients are typically AI models, frameworks, or agents. They initiate requests, for example:

  • Asking for a calendar slot
  • Requesting a database query
  • Invoking a third-party tool like a payment gateway

Clients don’t need to know the implementation details of the server. They just need to understand MCP.

2. Servers

Servers are tools, applications, or resources that expose functionality. For example:

  • A calendar service exposing “get events” and “create event” endpoints
  • A CRM exposing “fetch customer data”
  • A code execution environment exposing “run Python script”

By implementing MCP, servers make themselves universally usable by any MCP-compliant client.

3. Protocol Layer

The MCP itself defines:

  • Message formats → How requests and responses are structured
  • Context exchange → How state is shared so conversations don’t reset each time
  • Error handling → How to gracefully deal with failures

This is where the magic happens. Instead of writing N x N integrations (each agent with each tool), you just ensure each party speaks MCP.

Let me share one practical example here:
A customer support AI (client) needs to fetch order history from an ERP system (server). Without MCP, you write a custom API bridge. With MCP, both just follow the protocol → instant compatibility.

Why MCP Matters: Sharing the Bigger Picture

MCP is not just a “developer convenience.” It solves some of the biggest roadblocks in scaling agentic AI.

1. Reduces Fragmentation

Right now, the AI ecosystem is siloed: LangChain agents don’t easily talk to AutoGPT agents, enterprise tools require special adapters, and workflows break when one API changes. MCP unifies this.

2. Accelerates Adoption

When integrations are easier, businesses adopt faster. Developers can onboard new tools in days, not weeks. Startups can launch AI-driven products without massive integration overhead.

3. Increases Reliability

Standardized communication means fewer bugs and edge cases. Imagine the difference between ad-hoc integrations vs. standardized web requests. MCP makes AI interactions predictable and robust.

4. Boosts Collaboration

Multiple agents from different providers can collaborate. For instance:

  • A research agent fetches data
  • A summarization agent condenses it
  • A planning agent turns it into a project roadmap

All stitched together via MCP.

5. Future-Proofs AI Systems

As the AI ecosystem evolves, standards ensure today’s investments remain compatible tomorrow. Just as TCP/IP from the 1970s still powers the internet, MCP could power AI decades into the future.

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The modern businesses are not trusting custom integrations anymore.

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The TCP/IP Moment: How MCP Compares

One of the best ways to understand MCP is to compare it with the internet’s journey.

  • Before TCP/IP (1970s): Each computer network had its own rules. Connecting across networks was nearly impossible.
  • After TCP/IP (1980s): A single protocol unified networking. Suddenly, any machine could talk to any other machine. This created the foundation for the internet as we know it.

bofore and after MCP

  • Before MCP (today): Each AI agent and tool has its own integration style. Here, the collaboration is fragile, and scaling is pretty slow.
  • After MCP (future): Agents and tools can quickly and easily interoperate. It helps the Multi-agent ecosystems to rule over.

Key Parallel: Just as TCP/IP transformed isolated networks into the global internet, MCP is poised to transform isolated agents into the AI web of the future.

Top Real-World Use Cases of MCP (You Never Knew)

To ground this in reality, here are scenarios where MCP makes a difference:

  1. Healthcare AI
    • Agents from different providers (scheduling, EHR, and billing) need to work together.
    • MCP ensures seamless, compliant interoperability.
  2. Enterprise Productivity
    • A sales AI wants to update CRM, fetch financial data, and send an invoice.
    • MCP allows it to interact with Salesforce, QuickBooks, and Stripe without custom code.
  3. Multi-Agent Research Assistants
    • One AI browses the web.
    • Another extracts structured data.
    • A third creates a report.
    • MCP ensures they can hand off tasks without losing context.
  4. IoT & Robotics
    • Imagine a fleet of robots (agents) coordinating with sensors and control systems.
    • MCP enables standard communication across heterogeneous devices.

Challenges and Considerations

No protocol adoption is ever smooth. MCP also faces a few hurdles, listing them here. 

  • Adoption Lag: The tool providers must implement MCP for it to succeed.
  • Competing Standards: Multiple players may push different protocols before MCP dominates.
  • Security & Compliance: Standardization must also mean robust authentication and data governance.
  • Ecosystem Buy-In: Like TCP/IP, MCP will succeed only if it becomes the de facto universal standard.

Ready to Make Your Agents Talk to Each Other?

We’ll walk you through real-world MCP use cases and integration steps.

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Takeaway: MCP as the Backbone for Scalable Agent Ecosystems

The trajectory of AI is clear: single isolated models → agentic ecosystems → multi-agent collaboration. But that leap requires a backbone of interoperability.

MCP offers:

  • Standardization, like TCP/IP for the internet
  • Predictability like HTTP for the web
  • Scalability, like REST APIs for web services

If you are building or adopting agentic AI today, MCP isn’t just a nice-to-have. It’s the foundation layer that could define whether your ecosystem thrives or collapses.

My personal recommendation: I have seen firsthand how integration bottlenecks stall AI adoption in enterprises. MCP is not a theoretical nice idea; it’s a practical necessity. The earlier you start aligning with it, the better prepared you (your business) will be. 

FAQ's

Frequently Asked Questions

Does OpenAI Support MCP?

Yes, OpenAI does actively support MCP.

How Can My Company Get Started with MCP?

Well, we can help you design the MCP-friendly architecture. Connect with our experts, and you are just a few steps away from getting started with MCP.

Why is MCP Needed When Rest APIs Exist?

Because REST connects apps, and not intelligent agents. MCP adds shared context, standardization, and bi-directional communication so AI systems can truly understand and collaborate, not just exchange data.

How Does MCP Enable Multi-Agent Collaboration?

MCP lets multiple AI agents share context, tasks, and data through a unified protocol — allowing them to coordinate like a connected team instead of isolated bots.

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MCP Fundamentals

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