API Security and AI Agents: Safeguarding Sensitive Enterprise Data

The Enterprise API Security Challenge

APIs are the backbone of enterprise connectivity - the primary way customers, partners, and AI agents interact with enterprise products and services. Yet a recent Raidiam study shows a worrying trend: over 80% of APIs exposing sensitive data are dangerously under-secured.

David Oppenheim, Head of Enterprise Strategy at Raidiam, presented these findings at apidays London, highlighting why enterprises must prepare their APIs for the next wave of distribution - AI-driven engagement - and how standards-based solutions can build secure, AI-ready APIs.

Understanding the Scale of the Problem

The study reviewed 68 enterprise APIs outside heavily regulated contexts like Open Banking. By reviewing public API documentation, the research aimed to reflect the real-world exposure of sensitive data and functionality.

Using a risk matrix, Raidiam assessed data sensitivity against API security controls. This approach allowed the team to categorise APIs as low, medium, or high risk based on the potential impact of compromise and the strength of protective measures.

• Sensitive APIs include endpoints exposing personal, financial, or locational data, e.g.:
  • Initiating a payment on behalf of a customer
  • Accessing private medical records or health history
  • Tracking a user’s real-time location
• Non-sensitive APIs include endpoints where exposure carries minimal risk, such as public FX rates or product catalogues

Key findings:

• Over 80% of organisations fell into the “Act Urgently” category, exposing sensitive APIs with weak protections
• Common issues included:
  • Static API keys and long-lived shared secrets
  • Weak authentication and coarse-grained authorization
  • Minimal encryption beyond TLS

Best practices for enterprise API security:

• Use short-lived credentials and certificate-bound tokens
• Enforce per-request, fine-grained authorization
• Implement mutual TLS for strong encryption and client-server verification

These measures should be standard practice, not optional “gold standards,” to prevent breaches and technical debt.

→ Discover Now: API Security: The Definitive Guide for 2025 and Beyond

The AI Agent Challenge: New Consumers, New Risks

The rise of AI agents has created a new layer of complexity for API security. Enterprises now face questions such as:

• Can you verify whether an API request comes from a customer, their AI agent, or an imposter?
• How do you resolve disputes when agents execute sensitive actions on behalf of users?

AI agents act like digital impersonators, echoing early “screen-scraping” problems in unregulated Open Banking markets. These agents may automatically:

• Access multiple accounts simultaneously
• Initiate transactions on behalf of users
• Collect sensitive data across systems

Enterprises must implement robust authentication, authorization, and scope enforcement to manage AI agents safely. Failure to do so risks data breaches, regulatory penalties, and reputational damage.

Why Now? AI as the New Distribution Channel

Unlike Open Banking, which saw slow adoption, AI is rapidly becoming the preferred channel for customer interactions in both financial services and e-commerce.

• Consumers, especially younger demographics, increasingly expect to interact with products via their personal AI agents
• APIs that aren’t available, secure, and standards-compliant risk both breaches and loss of engagement

This is a critical moment: AI agents aren’t just tools; they are gatekeepers of the customer relationship. Enterprises must prepare now to maintain trust and market relevance.

The Path to Secure, AI-Ready APIs

Proven, standards-based solutions already exist to tackle these challenges without costly custom development. Key solutions include:

• OpenID Federation: Provides verifiable identity and application information via a trust anchor, allowing enterprises to confirm the identity and status of any requesting client or agent automatically.
• Software Statement Assertions (SSAs): Signed, extensible tokens that communicate exactly what access an application requires, reducing the risk of over-privileged access.
• Mutual TLS & certificate-bound tokens: Enable Zero Trust approaches, encrypting traffic, verifying client and server, and preventing token interception - a common source of API breaches.

Platforms like Raidiam Connect implement these frameworks at national scale, helping enterprises create AI-ready, secure APIs. Successful implementations, such as in Open Finance Brasil, demonstrate that standardised, modular approaches save time, reduce risk, and enable rapid adoption.

Act Before It’s Too Late

AI agents are just another type of application - one that can own your customer relationship. To secure your enterprise’s API ecosystem:

• Start with standards, not weak API keys
• Adopt modular, proven frameworks rather than building bespoke systems
• Prepare APIs for AI agents before breaches or lost engagement force the issue

Ready to make your APIs AI-ready and secure? Raidiam can help your enterprise implement standards-based, scalable API security solutions. Contact us today to learn more.