Apache Kafka, a leading event streaming platform, is crucial for building real-time data pipelines and event-driven applications but poses significant challenges when scaling across organizations. These challenges include difficulties in sharing Kafka environments between teams, limitations in supporting non-Kafka developers, restricted external access due to security concerns, complexities in managing configurations, and the lack of documentation which hinders reuse and innovation. Kong Event Gateway offers solutions to these challenges by providing features like Virtual Clusters for logical isolation, event APIs for non-Kafka protocols, enterprise-grade security for Kafka streams, and an abstraction layer that simplifies configuration changes. Additionally, it enhances documentation and observability, facilitating easier access and management of Kafka environments. By integrating with cloud services securely, Kong Event Gateway transforms Kafka into a more accessible, secure, and scalable platform, prompting organizations to reconsider their approach to managing Kafka data with an API platform.