Erik Wilde, who holds a PhD in Computer Science from ETH Zurich, and is one of the most prolific authors, researchers, and strategists in the API industry, has joined Jentic as Head of Enterprise Strategy. Wilde’s goal is to guide enterprises into the agentic AI age, and he will focus on guiding enterprise adoption of AI agents in a secure, standards-driven way that aligns with existing infrastructure and future-proof strategy.
Jentic was founded in late 2024 and backed by $4.5M in pre-seed funding, Jentic is building AI agents for work. The platform operates at the API layer, not the browser, connecting agents to thousands of services using open standards, secure credential management, and Just-In-Time Tooling. Jentic is open source and based in Dublin, Ireland.
“Agents will only succeed in the enterprise when they are managed with the same rigor as APIs, in terms of how they are enabled, supported, and governed,” said Erik Wilde. “Jentic understands this better than anyone. By building on existing API ecosystems and open standards like OpenAPI and Arazzo, Jentic is creating the foundation for agents to safely, robustly, and intelligently work within the enterprise . That’s why I am joining this team.”
A defining figure in the global API community, Wilde is recognized for his leadership as an Ambassador for the OpenAPI Initiative, the Linux Foundation program that stewards the world’s most widely used API specification. Across three decades, he has authored numerous Internet standards through the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), published extensively, taught web architecture at ETH Zurich and UC Berkeley, and advised enterprises across finance, healthcare, and government on API-driven transformation.
“Erik is quite literally one of the architects of the modern web and APIs as we know them today,” said Sean Blanchfield, co-founder and CEO of Jentic. “The fact that he’s chosen Jentic to shape the future of AI agents is a remarkable endorsement. It heralds the era of serious, standards-driven agent adoption in the enterprise.”
Wilde has been a leading voice in elevating APIs from technical detail to strategic enabler. As a co-author of Continuous API Management, he helped establish APIs as enduring business products. His “GettingAPIs to Work” YouTube channel has educated thousands of developers and executives worldwide, making him one of the most visible and trusted educators in the field.
Wilde’s appointment is a milestone for Jentic, which is quickly emerging as the category-defining bridge between “AI land” and “API land.” His unique combination of academic, standards, and enterprise accelerates Jentic’s mission to give enterprises a trusted, open, and secure foundation for agent-to-API interoperability. Wilde’s unique combination of academic, standards, and enterprise accelerates Jentic’s mission to give enterprises a trusted, open, and secure foundation for agent-to-API interoperability.
“With over 15 years of experience in the API field, I am passionate about helping organizations on their digital transformation journeys, making sure that vision, strategy, and technology are aligned, and that they are driven by well-aligned business and organizational initiatives,” Wilde stated. “As an OAI Ambassador at the OpenAPI Initiative, I promote the adoption and use of open standards and best practices for API design and management, and with Getting APIs to Work, I provide consulting and training services for API programs. I have a strong background in digital transformation, API design, and API governance, and I have contributed to many publications, patents, and standards. I have also worked with various industries and sectors, such as healthcare, education, finance, and government, to help them leverage the power and potential of APIs for innovation, integration, and automation.”
Now Wilde is turning his focus to AI agents and their path to enterprise adoption
“My mission is to help organizations get APIs to work in a truly transformative way by ensuring that they have the right APIs, and that they design and manage them in the right way,” he said. “I’m joining Jentic as Head of Enterprise Strategy! What started as “They’re doing really cool things – I’d love to be part of that” is now real, and I couldn’t be happier.
Over the next few days I’ll share more about my motivation and why I believe Jentic is uniquely positioned to change how enterprises adopt and scale AI,” Wilde indicated.
“To anyone who knows him, Erik is an absolute wellspring of knowledge and the consummate expert,” said Lydia Defranchi, B2B Tech Content Marketer. “As a content marketer, it was a joy to work with him because he gave us so much to work with. Not to mention that he is a prolific writer on his own already!
“Erik has an innate sense for what people are asking and what they need to know, leading to blogs and videos that effortlessly draw organic traffic,” Defranchi said. I also appreciate that he was willing to try new things when I came to him with different ideas — I recall one newsjacking opportunity I brought to him that we put together very fast, and it became an excellent story about API security.”
The announcement comes as Jentic expands the closed beta of Jentic Standard Agent, its hosted, standards-based agent service for teams seeking a safe and managed path into agentic adoption. Wilde will guide enterprise adoption of AI agents as the company expands its secure, standards-based Standard Agent beta.