The future is API-first

The push for digital transformation and accelerated technology adoption has always been a high priority, but the last two years have proven the urgency and need for digitalisation efforts.

At the forefront of enterprise innovation is the use of application programming interfaces (APIs). APIs are a set of definitions and protocols for building and integrating application software. With APIs, your product or service can communicate with other products and services without having to understand how they work. App development can be simplified, saving time and money. APIs enable creation of new tools and products—or manage existing ones—by simplifying the design, administration, and use, and enabling innovation.

Though APIs have been available for a while, their utilisation has changed over time, and the numbers show their growing significance. In 2020, Slashdata published their 19th Developer Economics Survey. According to Slashdata, nearly 90% of developers are using APIs in some capacity. A pillar of today's digital applications are APIs and businesses cannot offer cutting-edge services without them. APIs are only going to grow in scope and they're not slowing down.

The adoption of a modular, or "composable," architecture for the enterprise will be the emphasis of the next stage of the digital transformation, given the abundance of apps currently available and the addition of more as firms expand. The pandemic exposed how important it is for businesses to be able to pivot in response to a disaster quickly, and a firm that is composed of replaceable components can change its direction as needed in response to internal or external circumstances.

For financial data, APIs are becoming increasingly prevalent across both the enterprise level and smaller firms. Large organisations are building applications on top of this data, and optimising it for their client base. In addition, they are combining public APIs (like news or financial data), with their own private data. Bringing this together coherently can add huge value. Imagine a client being able to quickly see how they compare to their peers without the risk of sharing sensitive data.

Data companies are quickly becoming API-first, allowing for maximum flexibility across multiple use-cases. The capabilities of APIs makes them equivalent to gold in the pursuit for data-driven success.

Scribe is an API-first company data platform, powered by research-based AI. Uncover deep insights about private companies and end data entry from PDFs.

Header image from Pavlofox