Kong is an open-source API gateway built on NGINX, designed to manage APIs across multiple microservices with features like authentication, rate limiting, and data transformation from a centralized location. It can be deployed on-premises with minimal setup, requiring only a Postgres or Cassandra store, and integrates seamlessly with Kubernetes through the Kong Ingress Controller. This setup allows Kong to automatically configure itself to serve traffic as applications and services evolve in Kubernetes clusters, ensuring zero downtime. The Moesif plugin enhances Kong's functionality by providing deep API observability, enabling teams to understand API usage and customer interactions, troubleshoot issues, and optimize endpoints. Moesif offers analytics for activation funnels, retention reports, and more, helping product-driven teams make informed decisions. The integration process involves creating a ConfigMap for the Moesif plugin, deploying it with Kubernetes Ingress Controller using Helm, setting environment variables, and testing connectivity. Once configured, Moesif gathers metrics and logs API traffic for real-time monitoring, while offering options for handling sensitive data through client-side encryption or data masking.