# Fireside Chat with Sreeram Kannan (Eigen Labs) and Nikita Sachdev (Luna PR) at ETHConf

- Speakers: [Sreeram Kannan](https://streameth.org/speakers/sreeram-kannan)
- Channel: [ETHGlobal](https://streameth.org/ethglobal)
- Date: 2026-07-09
- Duration: 18:55
- Topics: Eigen Labs, EigenLayer, Sreeram Kannan, Nikita Sachdev, Luna PR, ETHCom, AI agents, verifiability, EigenCompute, EigenDA, EigenAI, agentic companies, restaking, prediction markets, multiplayer agents, deep neural networks, AGI, DNA sequencing, quantum computing, ECDSA.fail, instant settlement, DeFi security, attack surface, onchain agents, capital layer, governance, execution, smart contracts, digital companies, MegaEth, Rise, autonomous agents, crypto capital, Jack Dorsey, Block, trust
- Watch: https://streameth.org/watch/yt-RKr_fSfTpO4
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKr_fSfTpO4

## Description

In this fireside chat, Nikita Sachdev from Luna PR sits down with Sreeram Kannan, founder of Eigen Labs and former University of Washington professor, to discuss the verifiability layer needed for the AI agent economy. Nikita opens by asking the audience to raise hands on whether they'd trust an AI agent to book a flight (most hands), make a $100 transaction (more hands), or hand over their passport, bank accounts, and identities (almost none). Sreeram identifies two layers of agent verifiability: confirming the agent is running exactly the code and model claimed, and enforcing constraints on what the agent can do. He stratifies agents into single player (where a user can run them locally with their own constraints) and multiplayer (where agents adjudicate between mutually untrusting parties like a prediction market), noting that multiplayer agents need much higher trust guarantees. Eigen Compute solves this by guaranteeing the exact prompts, model, and data used in agent decisions.

Sreeram shares his personal AGI moment from 2017 working on DNA sequencing with physicist Jens Gundlach, when a student beat his hand crafted mathematical benchmarks using deep neural networks, teaching him that any objectively verifiable problem can be optimized by AI. He recounts a recent story where an Eigen colleague who hadn't finished college responded to Google's quantum breakthrough by launching ECDSA.fail, an open challenge where anonymous agent operators collaborate. Within six days they not only beat Google's benchmark but went 40% better than anything existing. He warns the next 6 to 12 months will be scary for DeFi as AI cracks instant settlement protocols, suggesting protocols with intentional settlement lag will weather this better. He closes by outlining Eigen's new thesis of agentic companies: agents at the center, humans at the edge, with company credentials (websites, YouTube channels, Stripe accounts, Roblox games) owned by onchain smart contracts so that every digital company becomes investable by crypto capital.

00:00 Introduction
00:32 Sreeram's Background and Eigen Labs Overview
01:21 Audience Hand Raising: How Much Do You Trust AI Agents
02:09 Two Layers of Agent Verifiability
02:42 Single Player vs Multiplayer Agents
03:28 Prediction Markets and Multiplayer Trust
04:15 How Eigen Compute Guarantees Agent Execution
04:42 What Makes Eigen the Right Company for AI
05:31 Sreeram's 2017 AGI Moment with DNA Sequencing
06:41 Why Objectively Verifiable Problems Get Optimized by AI
07:20 How AI Led Sreeram Into Blockchain
07:52 Eigen Layer's Original AI Thesis
08:17 Climbing the Product Stack to Agentic Companies
09:23 Would EigenLayer Move This Fast Without AI
09:46 The Google Quantum Breakthrough Story
11:06 ECDSA.fail: 40% Better Than Google in Six Days
12:12 The 10x to 100x Acceleration Opportunity
13:09 Is Crypto Moving Fast Enough Against AI Attacks
13:49 Instant Settlement vs Security Tradeoff
14:31 Why the Next Six to Twelve Months Will Be Scary for DeFi
14:56 What About Other People's Jobs
15:21 The Agents as Companies Thesis
16:05 Crypto's Core Value Proposition Is Capital
16:29 Why Only Five DeFi Protocols Are Investable
16:53 Putting Digital Company Credentials Onchain
17:19 Fully Onchain Agents That Cannot Run Away
17:51 Agents at the Center, Humans at the Edge
18:24 Closing

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