Adaptive Multiagent Enactment of Workflows

Current workflow enactment tools are centralized.
BPEL4WS is centralized.
BPEL4WS does not allow for any deviation or replacements. Web services are not autonomous.
We are studying ways to do adaptive multiagent enactment of workflows.
- Enact one workflow as a multiagent system, using Petri Nets. Buhler's thesis provides the first proof of concept.
- Add autonomous agents.
- Instantiate thousands of partial workflows under uncertainty. If many workflows will fail, how does the agent choose which one to participate in?
- Mechanism design issues: what incentives should we provide agents in order to implement a successful business workflow?