APIs at the Verge of AI

Keynote from AI The Docs 2025

https://apithedocs.org/ai-25/keynote-zdenek-nemec

Let’s explore the fascinating transformation of APIs from an interface that human engineers used to implement to machine-to-machine portals for autonomously exchanging information and trading business capabilities.
There are new API consumers on the block: the AI agents. What does this mean for APIs and businesses? Will APIs stay as we know them? What about the API documentation and SDKs? Will there still be engineers manually developing and integrating APIs?

Transcript

1. Zdeněk “Z” Němec, superface.ai, June ’25 APIs at the Verge of AI
2. Zdeněk “Z” Němec • designed an API description language • pioneered API-design & API-first • built APIs with the largest enterprises • building API infrastructure for AI agents • pushing agentic accuracy • agentic payments Founder and CTO of Superface.ai • DSL director Apiary.io → Oracle • Founder of Good API consulting • Enterprise API strategy and execution superface.ai
3. AI x API What happens at the verge of AI and APIs?
4. API plumbing Manual labor needed to provide and consume capabilities 👩💻 Design API 🦸 Document 👨💼 Publish 🙋 Discover 🤷 Try 👨💻📱 Implement Maintain 👨🔧 Build SDK 🧑💻 Purchase 👩💼 Test 👨💻 Test 👩💻 Implement 👨💻 API provider API consumer superface.ai All these people are needed to connect programs AI together…. …or, are they?
5. superface.ai 1. AI can integrate APIs 2. AI can build APIs 3. AI is the user of APIs 4. AI will do business on top of APIs Rethinking APIs
6. superface.ai API Consumer | AI integrating APIs AI using APIs
7. superface.ai AI Integrating APIs
8. superface.ai Superface EDGAR Demo Remind me to prepare the presentation for AI the Docs https://youtu.be/tvvjyueyafA
9. superface.ai Search web for Todoist API Read Todoist API documentation Write the integration Test it against actual API Integration is ready Actual web page, not OpenAPI Test & modify the integration as needed AI integrating APIs Using Google Search like you would do
10. Thank you, OpenAPI you are no longer needed superface.ai The premise of API description formats was to be the machine readable contract for API design and implementation.
 
 You can generate API design but also documentation from the code base
11. superface.ai AI consuming APIs
12. AI Tools and Tools discovery API API Agent Registry Register tools available to AI I need to do something, is there a tool for it? Here are the available tools API Communication superface.ai
13. superface.ai The reality GAP
14. 75% AI tasks fail superface.ai
15. Ways to Increase AI Accuracy Model
 fi ne-tuning APIs 
 designed for AI Bespoke tools API
 documented for AI MCP Intelligent tools controlled by LLM provider controlled by API consumer controlled by API provider superface.ai LLM
 training Popular LLMs are trained using popular API (docs)! Every option needs API documentation!
16. superface.ai API Provider | Building APIs (for AI)
17. AI Code-gen Design, bootstrap and test your API servers • API Design with OpenAI ActionsGPT • Code-gen with Cursor / Copilot / Windsurf • Generating documentation from server codebase • API testing with AI superface.ai
18. (Re)design your API for AI AI Agents are Coming for Your API - Are You Ready? https://maven.com/p/d4116d/ai-agents-are-coming-for-your-api-are-you-ready Emmanuel Paraskakis https://www.linkedin.com/in/emmanuelparaskakis/
19. superface.ai Documentation is the key
20. API Documentation is Essential Choose the tool
 
 select the API endpoint to use in the fi rst place for AI successful use of APIs Understand how to use it
 
 parameters, requirements, but also fi lters to minimize the tokens What other endpoints to call
 
 relations between the resources, chain of your API business logic “
 Prior to creating a contact, fetch the information about the fi elds. Custom fi elds su ff i xed with __c are de fi ned in the /Contact/describe endpoint.
 
 POST https: // salesforce.com/ . .. /Contact/ { "name": "Dave Grohl", "type _ _ c": "drummer", } superface.ai
21. API Documentation The heart of APIs superface.ai • Instructions for engineers how to program API clients • Raise and fall of API developer experience Information about APIs are transferred “out-of-band” ⚠ • Instructions for AI how to use API • Raise and fall of AI success
 Usually missing the business processes ⚠
22. superface.ai Model Context Protocol A way for API provider to share their capabilities with AI in an uniform manner
23. MCP Tools AI interface to (not only) APIs Documentation of the API capabilities superface.ai This “documentation” is interpreted at the runtime
 
 This enables self-describing API ⚠
24. superface.ai Agentic Business API Consumer API Provider |
25. Agentic Business Towards A2A B2B Agent-to-agent A2A
 
 Agents discovering and purchasing the digital capabilities from other agents Buyer Agent Buyer Agent Seller Agent Agentic Commerce
 
 Agents purchasing physical goods or services on behalf of their users Buyer Agent Buyer Agent Documentation of the business processes, terms and conditions would also be needed superface.ai The nature of machine-to- machine transaction with micro-charges makes A2A business ideal for digital currencies as they do not require human in the loop
26. superface.ai machine-only APIs AI API Transformation: Human-centric to Machine-only human-centric APIs 2023 machine processing of human-centric APIs 2025 fi rst self-describing APIs, hybrid human & machine 2032+
27. superface.ai API Documentation? We need better documentation more than ever.
28. superface.ai API Documentation is ⚠ used at client runtime! a form of prompt for AI.
29. Thank you! Let’s talk Zdenek “Z” Nemec 
 Twitter/X: @zdne LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zdne/ superface.ai superface.ai