APIs are a fundamental abstraction that encapsulates the capabilities of a business. In the pre-API era, services were delivered directly to other companies through traditional agreements. In the API-driven world, these services are now offered through APIs, making them accessible and consumable in a standardized, scalable way, shared Sanjiva Weerawarana, Founder & Chief Executive Officer, WSO2, in an exclusive interaction with Srajan Agarwal of Elets News Network (ENN).
WSO2 handles over 60 trillion transactions annually and manages over 1 billion identities globally. How has WSO2’s technology evolved to support such a vast scale, and what innovations are you focusing on to further enhance these capabilities?
When building software, it’s essential to consider architecture. The architecture defines how the system can scale and adapt to growing demands. Our focus is on what’s commonly referred to as horizontal-scale architecture. This approach enables scaling by adding more resources—such as additional team members—to handle increased workloads. The software services industry exemplifies horizontal scaling, where more people equate to more capacity to deliver.
However, not all challenges can be addressed with horizontal scaling alone. That’s why, when designing software systems, we always prioritize scalability at a large scale. This has been a core principle of our architectural approach.
A critical element underpinning this approach is the concept of distributed systems, which serves as the foundation of the computer science infrastructure we leverage. Distributed systems are an area we’ve worked on extensively, and they align closely with my technical expertise.
These principles have enabled us to build systems capable of handling immense volumes of data and operating at an exceptionally large scale. For instance, Jio is now one of the world’s largest companies in terms of data movement and subscriber base. Projections suggest that Jio’s scale will grow exponentially in the coming years.
To meet this challenge, we emphasize efficient horizontal scaling, cost-effectiveness, and manageability. When you’re running systems with hundreds of thousands of servers, failures—such as a server losing power—are inevitable simply due to the sheer scale. Addressing these architectural complexities is a central focus of our work.
WSO2 powers digital operations for major institutions like the Reserve Bank Innovation Hub. Can you share insights on the key challenges WSO2 faced while managing secure lending processes for Indian banks, and how your solutions addressed these challenges?
As a horizontal technology infrastructure company, our focus is not on catering to the specific needs of individual customers. Instead, we operate as a product company, developing solutions that serve a broad customer base. For instance, we currently support around 150 global banks using the same software platform, designed to meet diverse requirements without being tailored to any single customer.
Our approach prioritizes building the right security architecture, ensuring proper management, and following best practices in development and deployment. While we provide a uniform foundation, we also address any additional requirements unique to specific customers.
In the banking sector, where sensitivity and regulatory compliance are critical, we ensure that our solutions adapt to the varying rules and regulations of different countries. This enables us to provide comprehensive support while maintaining the flexibility to meet localized needs effectively.
WSO2 has successfully enabled seamless integration for major entities such as Aditya Birla Finance and UNICEF India. Could you elaborate on how WSO2’s integration solutions help these organizations drive operational efficiency and business growth?
Integration is fundamental to enterprise operations because businesses rely on a wide array of technology products to manage their functions. According to a Gartner study, the average company uses about 130 different SaaS products to run its operations. Each of these products functions as a silo, requiring data to flow seamlessly in and out, making integration a critical component. In fact, one of the most significant cost drivers in IT operations is the implementation and maintenance of these integrations.
At our company, we were built with a strong focus on interoperability-driven integration. We leverage open standards and universally understood protocols to ensure seamless communication between systems. It’s similar to how we’re communicating in English right now—you might speak Hindi as your native language in India, while I speak Sinhalese in Sri Lanka, but we use English as a common, interoperable language. This principle applies to systems architecture, where interoperability is key to effective integration.
Also Read | Unlocking Financial Growth with Smart Cloud Moves
Our platform’s strength lies in its ability to serve as an interoperable foundation. We dive deeply into understanding what integration truly entails, exploring the computer science abstractions and principles that underpin it. Rather than settling for incremental improvements, we tackle the challenges from first principles, seeking innovative and robust solutions that address the core of the problem.
This approach—grounded in theoretical depth and practical execution—defines what we do as a company. It allows us to remain highly competitive in the integration space and deliver meaningful solutions every day.
In the context of API-driven digital ecosystems, how is WSO2 supporting businesses in leveraging their APIs not only for internal efficiencies but also for creating new revenue streams through external partnerships?
APIs are a fundamental abstraction that encapsulates the capabilities of a business. In the pre-API era, services were delivered directly to other companies through traditional agreements. In the API-driven world, these services are now offered through APIs, making them accessible and consumable in a standardized, scalable way. This shift is transformative, enabling businesses to package and manage their services as APIs and even monetize them effectively.
Our API management technology empowers businesses to take their core capabilities, package them into APIs, and manage them as products. It provides the tools to not only distribute these APIs but also to monetize them. Monetization can occur in two primary ways:
-
- Contract-Based Agreements: This is the traditional model where businesses negotiate and agree on terms, such as a fixed annual payment for a service. For example, a company might agree to pay $10,000 annually for access to a specific capability.
- Pay-As-You-Go Consumption: This modern approach allows users to start using a service instantly by simply swiping a credit card—no extensive agreements required. This is common for SaaS products and services, where charges are based on actual usage.
An example of this is the application currently recording this call. It’s likely a pay-as-you-go service, where you’re billed directly via a credit card. Behind the scenes, this service operates through API calls—connecting the front-end interface in your browser to the back-end systems that enable the recording and other functionalities.
WSO2 technology supports all these scenarios. It facilitates the creation and management of APIs for direct consumer consumption, partner integrations, and more. Our platform handles provisioning, usage tracking, billing, and payment collection, enabling businesses to seamlessly offer and monetize their services through APIs.
Looking ahead, what role do you envision for WSO2 in the evolving landscape of cloud-native architectures, AI-driven workflows, and decentralized technologies like blockchain?
Our focus is on developing enterprise infrastructure technology that enables businesses to create value across various domains. A core principle for us is being cloud-native. In fact, we coined the term “cloud-native” back in 2016, emphasizing architectures that are designed for the cloud, rather than simply retrofitted or “cloud-washed.”
In today’s landscape, we see a similar trend with “AI-washing,” where every company claims to be an AI company to appear cutting-edge. Soon, others might even declare themselves “AI media companies” or the like. But that’s not our approach—we steer clear of hype and stay focused on core technology innovation.
Our commitment to cloud-native principles is evident in our strong architectural approach and our creation of Ballerina, a programming language purpose-built for cloud-native development. Ballerina allows developers to naturally express concepts for cloud deployment, aligning with true cloud-native thinking. It’s about enabling developers to bridge the gap between their mental models and deployment realities in an intuitive, efficient way.
As we move forward, whether it’s with AI, blockchain, decentralized computing, or other emerging technologies, our philosophy remains consistent: we dive deeply into understanding the true value and applications of each technology. We don’t chase trends or create superficial solutions just to ride the hype wave. For instance, while blockchain and decentralized apps (dApps) offer significant value, we focus on facilitating their genuine use cases rather than overstating their impact.
We avoid the buzzword stew—claiming revolutions driven by “AI-powered blockchain on a quantum computer.” Instead, we prioritize meaningful solutions that leverage the core strengths of each technology to create real, lasting value.
Your API Manager helps businesses manage, distribute, and monetize their APIs securely. How do you see the role of API management evolving in the next 5 years, especially with the rise of microservices and cloud-native applications?
API management is a foundational concept that has become integral to modern enterprise infrastructure. APIs are not a passing trend—they are a long-lasting paradigm for enabling connectivity, scalability, and innovation in business systems. Similarly, security is a critical, ever-present need, as there will always be threats attempting to exploit vulnerabilities.
In addition to API management, we focus on identity and access management (IAM), recognizing it as one of the core pillars of enterprise infrastructure. The three key pillars we address are:
- Identity and Access Management (IAM): Ensuring robust identity security and strong authentication mechanisms.
- API Management: Enabling the creation, deployment, and governance of APIs with a strong emphasis on API security.
- Integration: Providing seamless connectivity across diverse systems.
Beyond these, we have also developed solutions for internal developer platforms, aimed at improving developer productivity and helping enterprises accelerate their delivery of digital services.
Security remains central to all these areas. Whether it’s API security or identity security, we continually adapt to evolving threats. For example, we’ve implemented strong authentication practices and built tools to protect enterprise systems against vulnerabilities.
Also Read | AI and Cloud: Driving Digital Transformation in Insurance
Our approach is also deeply aligned with cloud-native principles. As the technology landscape shifts, we innovate to meet new demands. For instance, our API Kubernetes Gateway represents the next generation of API gateways, designed to operate effectively in cloud-native environments.
By continuously enhancing our capabilities across these key areas, we ensure that our solutions remain relevant and effective in addressing the challenges and opportunities of modern enterprise infrastructure. This ongoing evolution is core to our mission and strategy.
Elets The Banking and Finance Post Magazine has carved out a niche for itself in the crowded market with exclusive & unique content. Get in-depth insights on trend-setting innovations & transformation in the BFSI sector. Best offers for Print + Digital issues! Subscribe here➔ www.eletsonline.com/subscription/
