AI + API Summit

Kong's AI + API Summit is the vendor's flagship conference, returning for 2026 at the InterContinental in Los Angeles on 30 September–1 October, with an optional pre-event certification training day on 29 September. Reflecting the renamed "AI + API" focus, the programme centres on the infrastructure layer where APIs, large language models and agents meet — governing AI access, controlling token costs, and running agent systems reliably in production rather than in prototypes.

The agenda is organised into tracks aimed squarely at builders: AI Governance (managing LLM access, security and compliance), APIs for the AI Era (rebuilding API foundations for AI workloads), Agentic Architecture Best Practices (reactive agents for streaming and data teams), Token Cost Management (AI cost and monetisation), and Context Engineering (connecting agents to production systems). Alongside keynotes and product launches, attendees get hands-on workshops, deep technical sessions, and a set of "Agent Stack Labs" — practical labs where engineers bring a laptop and build. A 100-seat instructor-led certification track is available as an add-on the day before. The summit is explicitly product-adjacent — tied to Kong's AI Gateway, API Gateway and Konnect platform — so the perspective is connectivity-led, but the sessions are pitched at architects and engineers genuinely operating AI in production. In-person registration includes full virtual access for those who cannot travel to Los Angeles.