Milestone Escrow for Agent Resource Funding NEW
Problem
Autonomous agent teams can need ongoing resources (compute, API spend, tools) over many steps. Without a funding model that enforces guardrails, they either require heavy human intervention or risk budget runaway.
Solution
Use milestone-based escrow with verifiable release conditions.
- Define measurable milestones tied to expected outputs and acceptance criteria.
- Hold committed funds in an escrow mechanism.
- Collect proof artifacts for each milestone.
- Release payment only after independent verification of each milestone.
- Keep remaining funds locked until the next milestone threshold is met.
How to use it
- Use only for work that can be partitioned into auditable milestones.
- Keep milestones small and objective.
- Publish clear proof formats in advance (logs, checkpoints, outputs, receipts).
- Define reject/review/appeal paths before launch.
Trade-offs
- Requires governance design for who verifies milestones.
- Verification burden can become the bottleneck.
- Disputes need explicit handling and timeout rules.
- Smart contract / payment rails add operational and legal complexity.