This talk describes ING Bank’s journey from API Doing towards API Thinking. Seems a bit reverse? Shouldn’t thinking come before doing? Yet, this is how our journey went. Something we did not set out to explicitly make, rather we stumbled into its importance along the way.
The talk gives a brief history of APIs at ING Bank and captures important milestones. 3 years ago, when we started this journey, our primary inspiration came from diverse articles and talks on the web. This fueled our thinking. We dove right in and started building REST APIs.

Gradually, we created an API training that consolidated this knowledge and understanding into a repeatable story. Then came the API Platform. And later API communities that served as a podium for people to showcase their APIs.

What started as a local endeavor is now an important global strategy. APIs are no longer a nice to have integration piece, they’re a cornerstone of how we atomize our business. With more teams, countries building APIs, new ideas came in.

At this point, we see a need for write down our API Thinking. We can no longer rely on only web articles and posts for this. We want to publish ‘ING API Thinking’ field guide. This forms a theoretical foundation and thinking tools for APIs. A set of tools and principles to help many at our bank thinking and communicate on APIs. It’s the right time for API Thinking.