Kong AI Gateway 3.12 addresses critical challenges in the adoption of the Model Context Protocol (MCP) by introducing solutions for server consistency, authentication, and workflow costs in AI environments. This release aims to standardize MCP server generation, providing organizations with a way to transform existing API infrastructure into MCP-compatible tools without code, thereby reducing governance risks and costs. The new OAuth 2.1 implementation aligns with the recent MCP specification, enhancing security by centralizing authentication at the gateway level. Additionally, the release offers enhanced observability tools to track MCP server performance, usage patterns, and resource consumption, ensuring efficient and secure operations. Beyond MCP, Kong AI Gateway also expands its functionality with features like "LLM as a Judge" for improving AI output quality and Google's Model Armor integration for heightened AI security, catering to both MCP and LLM use cases in enterprise AI deployments.