Recently, I explored the difference between companies that view APIs as their core products and companies that view them as a tactic for staying competitive and efficient. Let’s call the first type of company “API-first” and the second “API-capable.” Now, let’s look at why a company can benefit from improving its API capability — even if they’re not API-first.

Modernize Legacy Systems with APIs

Ah, yes. The dreaded legacy system: an older computer system, technology, or application that continues to be used despite being outdated or superseded by newer technologies. Consider the difference between a floppy disk and cloud storage, or mainframe computing and distributed service-oriented systems. Older systems often get a bad rap.

I’ve worked with companies who were hell-bent on ripping out some old application or workflow in favor of something flashier and more current, only to realize halfway through the project that they underestimated the usefulness of the legacy system and how difficult it would be to replace.

APIs can make it easier to integrate with legacy systems without sacrificing the quality of the data and business logic that have been built up over the years. When done right, a web API sitting on top of a legacy system can be like the iconic glass pyramid in the courtyard of the Louvre that was added in the late 1980s — a modern interface to the historic contents beneath.

But be warned — when done wrong, it’s more like adding a fancy touchscreen to an old vending machine that still dispenses snacks using clunky mechanical levers.

APIs to Simplify Complex Partner Ecosystems

Suppose a company operates in a market with many third-party vendors, suppliers, or franchises that need access to their data. In that case, they could almost certainly benefit from improved API capability. The travel industry is a great example of how complex a seemingly simple workflow can be under the hood.

Consider a typical travel booking workflow. A traveler begins by researching destinations through Expedia or Booking.com or possibly via social media and travel influencers partnered with various providers. The traveler then compares options using metasearch tools pulling data from global distribution systems (GDS) and review platforms integrated with booking sites.

This integrated process continues right through booking (payments processing and travel insurance providers), the trip itself (tour operators coordinating with attraction sites, ride-sharing services integrating with hotel apps), and ends with post-trip integrations (analytics partners process experience data, loyalty programs across partners share information).

If a company exists anywhere along this chain, then they have an economic imperative to make it easier for its partners, consumers, and vendors to work with its applications and databases to keep travelers happy and to keep revenue flowing.

The big players in this industry, like Sabre, Travelport, and Amadeus, invest heavily in their API delivery programs. Think of them as being closer to an API-first organization. But if you’re working on the IT team for a hotel chain or a car hire company and aren’t as API-first, it still makes sense to improve your company’s ability to plug into the overall travel workflow or risk being left behind.

Overcome Regulatory Challenges with API Standards

Companies in highly regulated industries — such as banking, healthcare, and energy — face strict compliance requirements around data security, auditability, and access control. APIs can provide a structured, standardized way to expose data while ensuring compliance with frameworks like PSD2 for open banking, FHIR/HL7 for healthcare interoperability, and GDPR for data privacy.

Banks, for example, must provide secure third-party access to customer financial data under open banking mandates, while healthcare providers need to share patient records securely across systems.

As any reader of Nordic APIs knows, API specifications, like OpenAPI, AsyncAPI, and JSON Schema, are a great way to enforce standards across your APIs. Because these specifications are machine-readable and human-readable, it’s not difficult to set up tooling to essentially “scan” your API specs for any issues that might impact their compliance with industry regulations.

If an organization frequently cites compliance, security, or auditability as a major challenge — or if security reviews consistently delay new partnerships — it’s a sign that becoming API-capable could help them to meet regulatory demands.

Remove Internal IT Bottlenecks

These examples are focused on public-facing APIs. Regardless of industry or product, many companies struggle with internal IT bottlenecks that slow down operations, delay product development, and create inefficiencies across teams. When critical data and services are locked inside legacy systems, siloed applications, or manual processes, developers and support staff spend more time on workarounds and custom integrations than on innovation.

APIs help break these bottlenecks by standardizing access to core business functions, enabling faster development, and reducing reliance on outdated, hard-to-maintain systems. For example, an operations team struggling with slow internal reporting could use APIs to automate data retrieval from multiple systems, eliminating manual requests.

I once helped a team of accountants set up an API test automation solution despite the fact that, by their own admission, none of them had ever heard of an API a few weeks before our first conversation. Using some simple automation, they were able to reduce the time it took to complete their billing workflows from days to hours.

As an accounting firm, their key value proposition has never had and will never have anything to do with APIs, but that didn’t mean they couldn’t benefit from them behind the scenes.

Stay Competitive with API-Driven Differentiation

Ok, no business will tell you that they don’t want to be competitive, but what does “staying competitive” mean, and how can APIs help? First, consider technology adoption across industries.

Why do some industries adopt digital technology faster than others? Two big blockers of digital transformation are asset intensity (industries with physical assets transform more slowly than those with purely information-based ones) and value chain complexity (a complicated supply chain usually means slower digital transformation across an industry).

The transport industry scores high for both of those blockers. However, with some targeted development and intelligent planning, a company in this market can turn an industry-wide weakness into their company’s strength.

For example, a cold-chain logistics provider offering real-time temperature monitoring APIs can charge a premium for its shipments compared to competitors that don’t provide this level of transparency. A logistics provider can charge its retail clients for access to APIs that provide advanced shipping analytics and delivery guarantees.

You can often rephrase the question, “What makes this company competitive?” as “What makes this company different?” In an industry with the challenges I’ve mentioned, APIs can be a scalable, asset-light way of differentiating a transportation company’s offering.

You Can Benefit Without Being API-First

So, there you have it. You don’t have to be API-first to benefit from making it easier for your internal systems to communicate with each other and the outside world. If you’re lucky, you might end up starting some lucrative conversations.