AI connectivity and agentic governance: what 2025 changed

TL;DR: 90% of enterprises are adopting AI agents and 79% expect full production rollout within three years, according to Kong. The real shift is that AI connectivity is becoming a control problem, not just an integration problem, and identity governance has to catch up, while 72% are already implementing formal governance layers.

NHIMG editorial — based on content published by Kong: The 2025 Kong Year in Review

By the numbers:

• Kong research found 90% of enterprises are adopting AI agents.
• 79% expect full production rollout within three years.
• 72% of organizations are already implementing formal governance layers.

Questions worth separating out

Q: How should security teams govern AI agents that consume APIs and event streams in real time?

A: Treat AI agents as governed machine actors, not just application clients.

Q: Why do AI gateways matter for IAM and NHI programmes?

A: AI gateways matter because they concentrate policy decisions for agent traffic, model calls, and downstream tool access in one place.

Q: What do organizations get wrong about governing MCP-based agent access?

A: The common mistake is assuming the agent is trusted once the session starts.

Practitioner guidance

• Map AI gateways to identity control objectives Define which policy decisions the gateway must enforce for agents, APIs, and event streams, including authentication, token limits, logging, and runtime authorization.
• Inventory every agent-facing integration path List all routes where agents can reach models, tools, and downstream APIs, then mark which ones share credentials, policies, or event subscriptions.
• Separate billing governance from access governance Treat metering and billing controls as adjacent to, but not a substitute for, identity and authorization policy.

What's in the full article

Kong's full year-in-review covers the operational detail this post intentionally leaves for the source:

• Version-level product notes for AI Gateway, MCP Gateway, Event Gateway, and Kong Identity
• Funding, office expansion, and organizational growth details tied to Kong's 2025 operating model
• Customer stories and summit highlights showing how teams are using the platform in practice
• References to the broader Kong content library on API management and agentic AI operations

👉 Read Kong's 2025 year in review on AI connectivity and agentic governance →

AI connectivity and agentic governance: what 2025 changed?

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