'Star Wars vibes:' Chainlink's McCormick sees AI agents, robots driving blockchain transactions

Chainlink Labs Head of Institutional Strategy Andrew McCormick expects AI agents and robots to become a growing source of blockchain activity as autonomous systems increasingly need ways to transact and communicate.

Speaking with The Block's Kelvin Sparks at the Wyoming Blockchain Symposium 2026, McCormick pointed to agentic AI as one area where crypto infrastructure could play a role. He also expects advances in AI to make blockchain development cheaper, supporting what he described as a future with many different networks.

"We believe that we will live in a world of many chains," McCormick said. "I think especially with AI, the price of chain creation and engineering and tech makes it easier and cheaper."

McCormick, who previously held roles at eToro and Morgan Stanley and joined Chainlink Labs in June, said interoperability would become increasingly important in such an environment. He cited Wyoming's Frontier Token, which is using Chainlink's Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol, or CCIP, to enable distribution across multiple blockchains.

From AI agents to robots

McCormick highlighted the trading potential of AI agents, arguing that autonomous systems could trade when their owners are unavailable and take advantage of tokenized markets beyond traditional market hours.

However, McCormick said the overlap between AI and crypto could also extend beyond software agents into physical machines, envisaging humanoid robots operating in docks and factories that communicate and transact using stablecoins, digital assets, and blockchains.

"There's a lot of Star Wars vibes, but it's happening," he said.

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