What is AI Gateway?

As organizations use multiple AI models from different providers (OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, open-source models), managing these integrations becomes complex. Each provider has different APIs, authentication methods, pricing models, and rate limits. An AI gateway provides a single, consistent interface for all model interactions.

The gateway abstracts provider differences behind a unified API, enabling applications to switch between models without code changes. It enforces organizational policies (spending limits, content filters, usage quotas), provides centralized logging and analytics, and enables intelligent routing that selects the optimal model for each request based on capability, cost, and availability.

AI gateways are essential for enterprise AI governance because they provide a single control point for all AI model usage. Without a gateway, individual teams may independently integrate with different model providers, creating security gaps, compliance blind spots, and uncontrolled spending.