Kong is named **a Leader** in *The Forrester Wave™: API Management Software, Q3 2026*. Read the full report: [The Forrester Wave™: API Management Software, Q3 2026](https://konghq.com/resources/reports/forester-wave-api-management)The Forrester Wave™: API Management Software, Q3 2026.
APIs used to be about connecting systems to each other. Now they're also how AI agents connect to everything: tools, data, other agents. That shift changes what good API management looks like, and it's where we at Kong have shifted our focus.
Forrester's take on where we land: Kong "well suits modern cloud-native use cases with an emphasis on AI governance."
On strategy, the report describes Kong's vision as one built "to expand API management into an AI control plane while recognizing that this requires supporting broad protocols, event-driven architecture, gateway modernization, and alignment with executive business strategy."
And on the thing we get asked about most — AI governance — the report is direct: Kong's gateway has "more policies for LLM governance than any other vendor in this evaluation…." This is Forrester's own assessment, based on its evaluation criteria across every vendor in the report.
Kong's gateway has "more policies for LLM governance than any other vendor in this evaluation…."
Kong’s vendor profile in the report states the following:
Check out [the full report](https://konghq.com/resources/reports/forester-wave-api-management)the full report for more.
This isn't a one-report story. Earlier this year, IDC named Kong a Leader in the *IDC MarketScape: Worldwide API Management 2026 Vendor Assessment*.
IDC Group Vice President Shari Lava framed the shift this way: API management is becoming, in her words, "the very foundation for AI enablement, software development, and connectivity." As enterprises move toward hybrid and multicloud architectures, the vendors that win will be the ones offering federated platforms that support both legacy modernization and fast AI innovation.
Two independent analyst firms, evaluating the market from different angles, landed on the same read: governance and AI-readiness are now the deciding factor in API management. This is the very problem we've been building Kong to solve.
[_Kong_](https://konghq.com/products/kong-konnect)_Kong_ gives organizations one place to build, run, discover, and govern APIs, AI, events, and microservices. There's no AI without APIs, and no safe AI without governing them well.
[_**Request a demo**_](https://konghq.com/contact-sales)_**Request a demo**_
*Forrester does not endorse any company, product, brand, or service included in its research publications and does not advise any person to select the products or services of any company or brand based on the ratings included in such publications. Information is based on the best available resources. Opinions reflect judgment at the time and are subject to change. This report is part of a broader collection of Forrester resources, including interactive models, frameworks, tools, data, and access to analyst guidance. For more information, read about Forrester’s objectivity *[_*here*_](https://www.forrester.com/about-us/objectivity/)_*here*_*.*
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