Anthropic's Model Context Protocol and How it can Power AI Integration

Join Gary and Scott on The Macro AI Podcast as they explore Anthropic’s Model Context Protocol (MCP)—a game-changing open standard revolutionizing AI integration. In this episode, " How Model Context Protocol Powers AI Integration," we dive into how MCP connects AI systems to data and tools effortlessly, offering a competitive edge for businesses worldwide. Perfect for leaders seeking transformation and technologists craving practical solutions, we unpack MCP’s value with a real-world example: GlobeMart, a fictional global retail chain, uses MCP to optimize inventory. Facing a blizzard in Canada, GlobeMart’s AI links via MCP to its inventory database, weather APIs, and sales archives—triggering coat reorders for Toronto while redistributing excess stock from Spain, all in real-time. No custom coding, just one protocol delivering agility and cost savings. Gary and Scott break it down: MCP slashes integration chaos, letting AI tap live data from Slack, GitHub, or your CRM. For leaders, it’s about starting small—pilot MCP with a key system, proving the value, and scale globally. It’s open-source, backed by Microsoft and OpenAI (who added MCP support in March 2025), and poised to unify AI ecosystems. Technically, MCP’s client-server setup—think Claude Desktop or an IDE (a developer’s coding hub)—uses JSON-RPC to fetch data and act, like an agentic AI driving decisions. With version 0.2 updates (OAuth, streaming), it’s ready for enterprise action. From cost efficiency to global responsiveness, MCP is your strategic lever. Tune in for actionable insights and see why this could be AI’s TCP/IP moment. 

About your AI Guides

Gary Sloper

https://www.linkedin.com/in/gsloper/

Scott Bryan

https://www.linkedin.com/in/scottjbryan/

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https://www.linkedin.com/company/macro-ai-podcast/

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https://macronetservices.com/events/the-comprehensive-guide-to-ai-readiness

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Transcript

00:00
Welcome to the Macro AI Podcast,  where your expert guides Gary Sloper and Scott Bryan navigate the ever-evolving world of artificial intelligence.  Step into the future with us  as we uncover how AI is revolutionizing the global business landscape  from nimble startups to Fortune 500 giants.  Whether you're a seasoned executive,  an ambitious entrepreneur,

00:27
or simply eager to harness AI's potential,  we've got you covered.  Expect actionable insights,  conversations with industry trailblazers  and service providers,  and proven strategies to keep you ahead in a world being shaped rapidly by innovation.  Gary and Scott are here to decode the complexities of AI  and to bring forward ideas that can transform cutting-edge technology  into real-world business success.

00:57
So join us, let's explore, learn  and lead together.  Welcome to the Macro AI podcast. I'm Gary Sloper here with my cohost, Scott Bryan, bringing you the latest in artificial intelligence solutions that can transform your business and keep you ahead in the global race.

01:24
Yeah. Hi everyone. Uh, today we're diving into something that's been buzzing around a little bit in the AI world. It's a Anthropics Model Context Protocol or MCP.  Uh, it's a tool that's not just changing how AI works, but how it can work for you and your business. So whether you're part of a team  building, uh, you know, leading global networks, or you're just fine tuning something inside your tech stack,  uh, MCP is definitely something that you probably want to take a look at. Absolutely, Scott. MCP is about

01:53
breaking down barriers and simplifying, connecting your AI to the data and tools it needs to deliver real results.  We'll break down what it is,  why it's a big deal for business leaders, and even get into some technical details later on. Ready to jump in?  Yep, sounds good. All right, well before we  jump into it, ah there was a question we received from a listener this past week. He asked to be anonymous, which we completely respect. His question for us is, how do I get

02:22
upper management to focus on artificial intelligence and at least have a conversation about developing a strategy. Our competitors have announced they are an AI in their business and I'm afraid that we're not thinking about it. So what are your thoughts there, Scott?  Okay. Yeah, no, thanks for the question.  It's a good one.  I think a lot of folks are grappling with this. We come across it all the time in  medium and larger businesses. first off, don't panic.

02:51
The fact that you're already thinking about it is great.  I think to get management's attention, maybe request a meeting and start with their language. So you'd want to be talking about specific business outcomes. So show them how AI can solve real problems like cutting costs, improving efficiencies, or boosting customer satisfaction is a really good entry point. ah So point to what those competitors are highlighting.

03:19
Uh, but you want to obviously frame it positively say, you know, they're using AI to streamline operations. We could do that and more. And so you could  be prepared with, uh, some really specific use cases for, for your operation, for your business. It sounds like the listener could even be a candidate to propose that they form an internal AI center of excellence to generate some ideas and plans. We've talked about that in the past. Yeah. Perfect. Perfect. Yeah. Good point. Um, well, just one other thing.

03:49
A good idea for this listener, the way that they framed it  is maybe to, you know, don't, don't just go at it alone. Maybe, maybe partner up with someone  who is enthusiastic about AI, maybe in operations or IT who sees the potential. And then maybe you both approach management together. ah And then when you get the audience, you know, propose start starting small, like testing a tool that connects AI to existing systems, which, uh, uh, ah

04:18
that works out perfectly. That's going to tie into what we're talking about today is, is MCP. It's about, uh, you know, showing management a path that's strategic, but not overwhelming to get started. Yeah, completely agree. I think the question was timely. So what is MCP and why should business leaders really care? Uh, so Scott, let's start with the basics.  MCP model context protocol. It's an open standard from entropic folks behind Claude. Anybody's used Claude.

04:48
It was launched in the last year. So think of it as a universal adapter for AI, similar to  USB-C environments when you plug in your devices, you know, get that data source.  So in this case where it's  AI is plugging into a specific data source like Slack, GitHub, maybe your CRM without any custom coding for every connection. So it seamlessly integrates.

05:18
Yeah. Yeah. The USB-C analogy is a good one. You hear it. We're hearing it more and more often. uh So for business leaders, this is big because it solves a problem that everybody's facing. uh AI is, it's brilliant in theory, but it might be stuck in a silo.  then  model context protocol lets your AI easily tap into real time data.  say, you know, customer feedback from Slack, like Gary mentioned, or sales trends from your database.

05:47
and then you can act on it. So it's not just efficiency,  it can be a real edge to get your AI in motion. Yeah, you're right. mean, imagine you're running a global supply chain organization. Your AI environment could use MCP to pull live inventory data, tariff updates. I mean, we're seeing tariffs  change quite a bit lately here. ah Weather forecasts, even  shipping transit information and  making those decisions on the fly.

06:17
There's no more waiting for IT to really stitch it all together. It's about the speed and agility key for staying ahead in today's market.  Yep. Yep. In addition to speed, it's also cost effective. uh custom integrations are expensive and slow. So trying to build those custom integrations to  plug in your AI into various tools can be slow. uh MCP standardizes that process. So your teams can be focused on the strategy, know, not duct taping different

06:46
pieces of tech together. uh So companies like Block and Apollo are already using it. I read a few cases of what they're doing over there. even OpenAI is jumping on board.  So they've added MCP support across their products as of  March of this year. uh I think that's really a big signal. When  industry giants  align on a standard, it's really a cue for leaders to pay attention.

07:14
I think MCP could be the backbone of your AI strategy, allowing your team to be more nimble, ability to scale up, and really to do so cost effectively. Yeah. That sounds good. So let's  shift gears and talk a little bit about strategy. uh So implementing MCP isn't just about flipping a tech switch. It's a technical strategy decision that can redefine how your organization operates in the AI era. um

07:42
So how do you guide a global business through this? Yeah, I think that's a good question. I really feel it starts with clarity, Scott. So business leaders really need to articulate the value. MCP isn't merely a tool. It's really a framework that makes your AI systems more actionable and your operations more agile. So where do you begin if you're a business leader? I typically recommend starting with a focus pilot.

08:11
connected to a critical system, um like your customer insights platform. And that way you can demonstrate tangible results.  So think of things like faster decision-making. And that really allows you to secure a team alignment and momentum. It also provides that  buy-in across the organization. Yep, certainly. um It's about aligning the technology with the internal priorities. So partner with the technology leadership,  your CIO or engineers.

08:41
and identify a high impact data sources like live sales figures from overseas markets or something, for example. And MCP standardized approach lets you integrate these without major restructuring. So it's a strategic entry point with minimal disruption and maximum potential. Yeah, that's a point. So I don't know, we could maybe bring this to life. Let's pretend we created a

09:11
uh a organization called Globemart.  I don't know. It's a fictional retail  chain spanning continents  globally. So your goal here,  you want perfect inventory. So you're stocking coats in Canada for a looming blizzard  while avoiding, you know, surplus in Balmy, Spain, for example. MCP makes it happen. How does it work in practice? So if  I were to give you that use case, Okay. Yep. So what is it? Globemart?

09:41
Globemart, yes, I am the CEO of Globemart. All right, here we go. I need your help. All right, so Globemart's AI is gonna link through MCP to their inventory database. So it can connect to that database for inventory, it can connect to a weather API and sales archives, all instantly accessible using MCP.

10:09
behind that would be an MCP server that bridges these things.  And it pulls stock data from uh something like Postgres, Blizzard forecasts from the API,  and then trends from Google Drive. So it's  one protocol, not a lot of chaos, and it delivers that unified view. Yeah, so  the AI environment sees the storm coming. It checks.

10:36
Toronto shelves and flags, hey, we need 400 more coats  ASAP. It triggers a reorder from a local warehouse, ah keeps customers warm and costs tight. Then it spot checks  in Madrid and reroutes it.  That's real time leadership enabled by smart tech. Hopefully this reduces the run on eggs and bread and milk we see during snow storms up here in Boston.  You can forecast this with

11:06
All of these different tools and information sources with MCP, definitely opens the environment. Like you said, it's not in that closed chaos environment that you may have. Yep, exactly. And for a little bit more of a technical look at it, so the AI acts  as an MCP client. So think Claude Desktop or our custom agent  sending the JSON RPC request to the server. RPC is a remote procedure call.

11:36
And it  asks, you know, what's, what's in stock, what's the weather, and it uses a tool function to act. So that's a little bit more of a streamlined scalable solution for Lobmarts global network. I think that's really the beauty of MCP. mean, leaders get the agility, they make decisions on the fly. There's no more bottlenecks or at least reduces the amount of bottlenecks. And it's open source, as I mentioned before, so you're not really tethered to one provider.

12:05
you can tap into an ecosystem. know, if you look at it today, you have Microsoft, JetBrains, and others contributing to this to keep your AI strategy ahead of the curve. So if you are on those platforms, uh you know, they're all coming together to contribute. Yeah. Yeah. And the, you know, MCP protocol can be a unifier. So kind of going the same analogy, if it's your Tokyo warehouse  or, or the headquarters in New York.

12:34
uh, MCP will help connect the dots.  So IT leaders can, can test it locally, measure the impact, and then start rolling it out, you know, worldwide if it has the green light. So it's about building a responsive data-driven organization without the usual headaches and leveraging what looks to be potentially becoming a fairly standard protocol in the world of AI. Yeah, that's well said. Maybe even just look at everything that's happened with the tariffs. I mean, the ability to

13:02
maneuver that country by country, I'm sure would, it would give organizations a leg up. I mean, it really allows you to  lead with confidence using MCP. can start small, improve the value and scale smart. not just adopting AI, it's mastering it for the global stage. So it's interesting. We received that, that question earlier because this,  you know, I don't know what their organization specifically does, but  that could be the stepping stone for them. Yeah.

13:31
Yeah, and let's, so we can, we can, let's drill down a little bit more uh into the tech technology and get under the hood a little bit. Okay. Let's bring it on Scott. MCP uses a client server setup. So think of it, you know, the client and you can't see my air quotes is, your artificial intelligence, like a cloud desktop or integrated development environment and the server additional air quotes  is what really connects  it to

13:59
data or tools. Think of it this way. Your AI client sends a request through model context protocol and the server fetches live data, say from Google Drive, like you mentioned before, or a Postgres database. It's uh a two-way environment. It's secure and it's standardized in this topology,  which  we'll talk about here. Maybe you can go in and go little bit further into that. Yeah. Yeah. And like I mentioned, it's built on JSON RPC messages.

14:28
So think of those as the language that  model context protocol speaks. So servers offer three primitives, know, prompts for reusable templates, resources for read only data like files and tools for actions like querying and API. There's all kinds of APIs out there. Tools would do the querying. uh Clients meanwhile handle the  routes. So giving servers access to local files.

14:57
and then sampling, which is letting servers tap the AI's brain  for completions. Yeah. And the cool part, it's language agnostic. SDKs and Python, TypeScript, and even Kotlin mean your dev teams can pick their preferred solution. And Anthropix latest update from March  added goodies like OAuth 2.0 for secure logins and streaming support for real-time data flows. ah So that's really next level.

15:26
next level for uh building responsive AI agents.  Yep, absolutely.  And then take coding, for example.  Your AI in  an integrated development environment or IDE uses  an MCP server to pull the latest  repo changes from GitHub and then suggests fixes based on that context. So no manual uploads, no lag, just a seamless integration.

15:53
And that's why tools like  SourceGraph and Replet are all over it.  Yeah. And I think even on the enterprise side for folks there, uh Microsoft's Playwright MCP server lets artificial intelligence browse the web securely via Chrome's accessibility tree. Really practical stuff. Your AI could scrape global materials, pricing or monitoring trends all through one protocol.  Yep.

16:21
Yeah. And in essence, MCP really simplifies a complex problem. So previously connecting every AI to every tool was a chaotic web of custom integrations. That's a, you know, like an end times M scenario. MCP will streamline this into a, you know, N plus M approach where the single protocol links them all efficiently. And so that's, you know, that just adds efficiency across the board. Yeah.

16:51
Yeah, good points. So  the big picture, kind of what's next, let's maybe zoom out. know, MCP is not just a tool, it's evolved into  really almost like a movement, uh which I'm sure was the goal of Anthropic.  now with OpenAI, Microsoft, I believe AWS is backing it, plus CloudFlare's remote server support, we're seeing momentum.  I mean,

17:18
just to throw out another networking term, could this  be the TCPIP of AI integration?  Yeah, I mean, it's definitely feeling like that. um We'll see where it goes. uh like how TCPIP unified the internet, uh MCP could standardize how AI systems talk to  the world. So for technical leaders, that's just  less vendor lock-in. um Everybody remembers Apple Talk back in the day.

17:47
So less vendor lock-in and more flexibility. Imagine your AI coordinating across regions, pulling data from  anywhere, all using one  simple protocol. Yeah. Yeah, I don't disagree.  I do think the community is driving it. mean, GitHub's buzzing with 30,000 plus stars on MCPs, JavaScript servers, and there's forums full of developers building new connections. ah To me, that's a signal. Adopt now.

18:15
and you're ahead of the curve, wait,  and it's possible you could be playing catch up, right? Mm-hmm. Yep. And you know what,  just before we continue on, there is another development that's worth noting. So Google just launched their agent-to-agent protocol, or  A2A, uh just last week, April 9th. And that's another open source standard like MCP.

18:41
but it's focused on letting AI agents talk to each other across different platforms. So think, you know, Salesforce or to SAP, securely collaborating on tasks. So that's agent to agent. It's a little different from what MCP is focused on, but it's another move.  Yeah, they had a lot of good announcements last week, especially with Gemini. So they're definitely moving in the right direction and kind of helping lead this shift. ah I think while MCP connects

19:11
artificial intelligence to tools and data, A2A seems to be more about AI to AI teamwork. So if you look, it's backed by over, I think it's over 50 partners, which include folks like Intuit and ServiceNow, so big enterprise service organizations. So it may catch on fast. And for those business leaders listening and any other innovators following this space,

19:39
It's definitely a signal of a trend. Open protocols like MCP and A2A are breaking down those silos. So it's giving businesses more flexibility to scale AI globally, I believe. Oh yeah. Yeah, exactly. um So A2A is still early. Google's eyeing a production ready version later this year, but it shows that the industry is betting on standards. And that's why we wanted to put together this podcast on MCP because it has a little bit more

20:06
little bit more history than A2A, which was obviously just launched. But it's really interesting to see that, know, MCP is  leading the charge for tool integration and A2A could compliment it by linking the agents. So together, these protocols are  really starting to shape a  more  simplified and connected AI future. um So just,  Gary, just starting to wrap it up  for next steps. think, you know, listeners could uh start with.

20:34
log desktop and test MCP locally, connect it to a key system, test it, measure the impact, and then scale it, kind of like what we recommended to the listener that asked the question. The latest from Anthropic hints at centralized registries and better enterprise hosting. And so this stuff is gonna move quickly this year. Yeah, great. I think for our listeners, Model Context Protocol is clearly here. It's practical.

21:03
and it's growing as we talked about. So take a look at it, do some deep research on MCP  and also now on Google's  A2A as Scott mentioned and decide for yourself if these are going to set the pace as potential standards. We'll talk more about A2A in the future episodes coming down the pipeline. Yep, agreed.  Definitely a lot to keep up on  as the standards develop, but uh for techie people, it's kind of fun to watch. So that's a wrap for today.

21:33
Yeah, thanks for tuning in everyone to the Macro AI podcast. If you like this, please share it with a friend or a colleague. Give us a review as well. And please send in questions. Like today's question was excellent. So we want some feedback and we want to develop great content for you. Yep. You can hit us up on LinkedIn too. Gary and I are on LinkedIn. And you can get us any way you want to. Appreciate it. Talk to you next time. Thanks Scott. See you soon.