Building API Products in the AI Era

Industry experts from Platform Summit 2025 share guidance on evolving API products for an AI-driven world. Key themes include designing for both human developers and AI agent consumers, breaking monolithic APIs into smaller targeted services, supporting multiple protocols (REST, gRPC, webhooks, MCP), treating internal APIs as products with proper portals and documentation, and rethinking monetization models. Traditional per-call pricing breaks down with AI agent traffic volumes, pushing providers toward outcome-based and dynamic pricing. Emerging agent payment protocols like Google's AP2 and Stripe/OpenAI's ACP may eventually standardize how AI agents pay for API usage. Developer experience remains foundational, with emphasis on solution-oriented documentation over feature lists.