AI agents need API gateways

AI agent systems are facing similar challenges to those encountered by enterprises with HTTP APIs a decade ago, necessitating the adoption of API gateways for effective management. The Model Context Protocol (MCP), an open standard by Anthropic, is gaining traction as a consistent communication framework for AI systems to interact with external tools, with its adoption and integration highlighting the need for robust governance strategies akin to those in the API management market. Enterprises utilizing MCP are discovering issues related to authentication, observability, rate limiting, audit trails, and access control, much like the early days of API management. The non-deterministic behavior of AI agents introduces unique challenges that cannot be fully addressed by gateways alone, necessitating a comprehensive governance layer to manage both AI infrastructure and decision-making processes. The development and deployment of solutions like Tyk's MCP gateway illustrate the growing recognition that effective management and governance strategies are essential to safely and efficiently scale AI technologies.