API load testing is a crucial part of performance testing that identifies how stable an API is under different workloads. It helps detect and fix inefficient code, minimize the cost of failure, identify bugs and inefficient code, minimize API downtime, optimize the API infrastructure, improve customer satisfaction, and improve API performance. API load testing should be performed as part of deployment preparation strategies to ensure the performance of individual API endpoints is assessed separately. The key to successful API load testing lies in good collaboration between developers and SREs, and using tools like Sauce Labs can help streamline the process. By performing load testing, organizations can eliminate performance issues that can lead to problems like slow API response times, wasteful code, hidden flaws, and API downtime.