Openness Matters: Source and Interfaces in the Age of Agents
Openness has seen a resurgence: open source, open interfaces, and increasingly open models. AI is a big part of why that happens. Agents can read what is open, and reading was always the expensive part. That changes what openness is worth, and it widens where it applies. Coding agents work with implementations, and that's where open source makes the difference. Business agents work with capabilities, and that's where open interfaces matter. Business agents get pointed at everything your business depends on: your own APIs, and the ones of your partners and providers. That gives a familiar idea more weight. API governance works best when it covers the whole landscape your business depends on, both the APIs you publish and the ones you consume. For your own APIs, open source and open interfaces reinforce each other. For everything else, interfaces are what you have to work with. This talk looks at different kinds of openness, where they apply, and what agents need in order to use what you've opened. The place to start is the AI-readiness of the APIs your business depends on, including the ones you didn't build.
Speakers
Erik Wilde works at the intersection of API strategy and AI, with a focus on how organizations can connect their existing API landscapes with their ambitions for AI. He is particularly interested in what holds enterprises back from making that transition, which is often as much about strategy, organization, and ways of working as it is about technology. Erik has a degree in computer science from TU Berlin and a PhD from ETH Zurich. He is the author of numerous articles and papers, several books, and multiple standards, and regularly speaks at conferences around the globe. His “Getting APIs to Work” channel on YouTube provides developers, IT professionals, product managers, and digital leaders with regular updates about technologies, tools, events, standards, and the global API community. Erik is an OpenAPI Ambassador, organizing and speaking at events around the globe to promote the use of standards and help organizations realize their full potential.