Glossary

What is MCP (Model Context Protocol)?

MCP, the Model Context Protocol, is an open standard that lets AI assistants connect to other software in one common way. A business system offers its data and actions through a small program called an MCP server. Any AI assistant that supports MCP can then use them. Before MCP, each assistant needed its own custom connection to each system.

Why it matters for a business

MCP changes the arithmetic of connecting AI to a business. A connection to the order system is written once and works with whichever assistant the company uses next, so the choice of assistant stops deciding which systems it can reach. Anthropic created the standard and in December 2025 handed it to the Agentic AI Foundation, part of the Linux Foundation, so no single company controls it. Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini, Microsoft Copilot, Cursor and Visual Studio Code all support it. What MCP does not settle is permission. Whether an assistant may issue a refund is decided by the account behind the connection and the operations it offers.