Application Programming Interfaces, or APIs, are the glue of the digital era. An API is essentially a translator: it offers access to predetermined parts of an application to other applications. For example, when you log into Gmail using a third-party app, that app uses Gmail’s API to access your email.

Third parties can use an application’s features without directly accessing that application, lowering security risks while increasing access and speed of deployment. APIs make integrations between different systems much simpler, even if those systems have nothing in common, which is why we can call it digital glue. Do you need image recognition? Multifactor authentication? Financial services? There’s an API for that.