
Intelligent API Managemnt
Enterprise API workflows are filled with tedious, information-intensive tasks that drain developer productivity. These annoyingly complex processes presented a perfect opportunity to leverage AI to transform user experience.
Vision
An API Agent that supports users throughout the API development lifecycle across different form factors.
Our API Agent will soon be embedded in IBM software: API Connect SaaS, API Connect on-prem, IBM webMethods Hybrid Integration (iPaaS); and also as a VS Code extension.
Role
As a lead designer, I delegated to other designers, strategized with lead PM and engineers and coordinated with dev teams across the world to execute.
NOTE: This is current ongoing work, some details omitted. If you want to learn more, let's have a conversation :).
User research
Conducted a Kano study for AI feature prioritization and concept testing to validate an agentic experience for some of the top identified features.
Key findings:
API Developers create APIs using their preferred IDEs as opposed to IBM API Connect's built in tooling.
They are more interested in AI features for security, governance and compliance to:
Reduce tedious tasks and human error.
Free up time to focus on creating APIs
The user: Sasha, API Developer
As an API developer, Sasha prefers to concentrate on API development, but she's slowed down by tedious governance and security requirements.

Responsibilities
Build secure, compliant APIs for customer-facing banking applications
Implement API governance standards across 15+ internal development teams
Ensure regulatory compliance in all API implementations
Design authentication/authorization frameworks and security policies
Experience based roadmap
A roadmap was created based on Kano study results and prioritization discussions with PM and Dev.
Cupcake
API Agent can help Sasha create, enhance and publish her APIs directly in VS Code (her preferred IDE).
Birthday cake (WIP)
The API Agent is available across IBM's API management ecosystem, helping users like Sasha reduce time on security and governance tasks by 80%.
Wedding cake (WIP)
API Agent creates a fluid experience that merges platform UI with conversational functionality. Throughout the API development lifecycle, Sasha can move seamlessly between hands-on work, in-context assistance, and full task delegation to the agent.
error remediation with AI
API spec enhancement with AI
Challenges
International team
We are a large team split across 3 continents: N. America, Asia and Europe — communication is the biggest challenge.
To help us work asynchronously, I held early morning weekly meetings with each squad, prepared with an agenda. Deeper implementation and design dives were recorded and shared in a Slack channel.
Acquisition
While we were building API Agent, we were simultaneously merging our products with an acquired competitor.