State of the API 2025: API Strategy Is Becoming AI Strategy

The survey of more than 5,700 developers, architects, and executives found 89% of developers now use generative AI in their daily work, yet only 24% design APIs with AI agents in mind. That mismatch is widening as agent adoption outpaces API modernization. Teams are building with AI, but many APIs are still optimized for human consumers alone. … ### 3. Prioritize Security and Scale in an Agentic World As AI agents become primary API consumers, security assumptions must evolve. 51% of developers cite unauthorized or excessive agent calls as a top concern; 49% worry about AI systems accessing sensitive data they shouldn't; and 46% highlight the risk of credential leakage and over-scoped keys. Traditional controls, designed for predictable human traffic, struggle against machine-speed persistence, long-running automation, and credential amplification. … ### 4. Collaboration is Key: Without it, Teams Break their APIs Even as API-first adoption grows, collaboration remains a bottleneck. 93% of teams report challenges such as inconsistent documentation, duplicated work, and difficulty discovering existing APIs. With 69% of respondents spending 10+ hours per week on API-related tasks, and with a global workforce (43% APAC, 30% North America), asynchronous collaboration is the norm. When specs, conversations, tests, and examples are scattered across wikis, chats, repos, and inboxes, "tribal knowledge" becomes a dependency.