While API-based ecosystems may seem purely technical at first, they are ultimately about people (organizations, product teams, engineers) and how they manage relationships (B2B, B2C, internal) and deliver value in a digitized environment.
There are striking metaphorical similarities between digital platforms and community gardens: both are shared spaces that only thrive when structure, rules, joyful collaboration, autonomy, and ongoing care are in balance. This balance is key to accelerating sustainable ecosystem growth. In the end, it’s about cultivating a fertile ecosystem — a safe, intuitive environment where autonomous teams thrive, continuously improve, and deliver real value. Not a tangled jungle, but a well-tended garden.
This session explores the essential building blocks required to nourish a healthy API ecosystem:
- Secure and robust infrastructure components
- Tools and processes that improve flow for all platform residents / ecosystem participants
- Empowerment activities that foster autonomy (e.g. clear documentation, paved roads for providers and consumers, guidelines, AI-based API design assistants, targeted training)
- Governance at scale – guiding a large ecosystem without blocking flow or limiting autonomy (including AI governance)
We’ll bring these concepts to life through real-world lessons from DATEV’s five-year journey of transforming API management into a productized platform—focused on reducing unnecessary complexity in “doing business digitally” in an already highly complex and technical world.
