Equixly Recognized in Gartner Hype Cycle 2025 Reports for Critical Role in API Security Testing
Equixly is proud to announce its recognition as a sample vendor in the API security testing category. The company was featured in two prominent Gartner reports for 2025:
This recognition from Gartner, one of the most prominent technology research and advisory firms, validates Equixly’s pioneering approach to API security and the growing importance of our agentic AI platform in protecting modern enterprises.
The inclusion highlights the maturity and effectiveness of solutions such as Equixly in addressing critical and often overlooked security challenges. As organizations growingly rely on APIs to power their digital initiatives, the need for specialized, intelligent testing has never been more apparent.
The Soaring Importance of API Security
Gartner’s analysis paints a clear picture: APIs are no longer merely a component of an application; they are a high-value target for threat actors. The reports state that “APIs represent a major attack surface for web-enabled applications,” and their protection is an “ongoing concern for many cybersecurity leaders.” This is why Gartner assigns a “High” benefit rating to API security testing.
APIs are the connective tissue for digital transformation, facilitating the flow of information between the myriad systems and applications we use daily. However, this proliferation comes with an important caveat. According to Gartner, the growth in API use has “attracted more attacker attention,” leading to data breaches and similar damaging security incidents.
A major challenge highlighted in the reports is the management of undocumented or shadow APIs. These APIs are typically created outside of standard development and security processes, which leaves them untested and vulnerable to security risks.
Gartner notes that organizations “struggle to maintain an inventory of APIs and need help locating them so they can be tested and managed.” That underscores the urgent need for automated testing of shadow APIs, a vital function of modern API security platforms.
Where Do Traditional Application Security Tools Falter?
For years, organizations have relied on traditional application security testing (AST) tools. While valuable, Gartner points out that these tools “were not originally designed to test for some of the unique vulnerabilities associated with typical API attacks.” Legacy scanners often fail to identify critical, API-specific flaws that can lead to major breaches.
Gartner identifies the following key obstacles and vulnerabilities that require specialized attention:
- Complex authorization flaws: Issues like Broken Object-Level Authorization (BOLA), where a user can access data they shouldn’t, are notoriously difficult for traditional tools to detect.
- Business logic flaws: Exploiting the intended logic of an application for malicious purposes is a creative process that requires a deep understanding of the context, something most automated scanners lack.
- Modern API protocols: The increasing use of GraphQL and gRPC APIs requires testing capabilities that go beyond the scope of tools designed primarily for REST and SOAP.
These gaps in coverage leave organizations vulnerable to consequential risks. Simply scanning for common vulnerabilities, such as injection attacks, falls short of securing the modern API ecosystem.
Equixly’s Agentic AI: A New Paradigm for Finding Hidden Risks
Equixly’s recognition by Gartner comes at a time when the market is clearly aware of the limitations of conventional application security testing. Our platform was built from the ground up to address these challenges using a proprietary agentic AI engine.
To find the vulnerabilities that are commonly missed, Equixly abandons the outdated model of predefined signatures and simple payload testing. Instead, it utilizes AI agents that function as offensive security specialists. They autonomously explore APIs, learn the specific logic that governs them, and then creatively test for complex, elusive security flaws.
This logic-aware approach thus addresses the core obstacles identified by Gartner:
- Automating the unautomatable: Our agentic AI is uniquely capable of identifying and validating subtle access-control and business logic flaws, transforming a historically manual process into an automated and scalable one.
- Deep contextual awareness: By understanding how an API is intended to function, our agents can identify deviations and abuses that lead to critical vulnerabilities, providing coverage that extends beyond the OWASP Top 10.
- Shadow API discovery: The Equixly platform actively discovers shadow API endpoints, making sure that undocumented, hidden, and unmanaged APIs are not left untested and unprotected.
Our method provides the thorough coverage that Gartner recommends, suggesting organizations to “complement automated testing tools with penetration testing services.” Equixly bridges that gap, delivering the depth of a manual pen-test with the speed and scale of automation and artificial intelligence.
A Technology Reaching Mainstream Adoption—Fast
Perhaps the most compelling insight from the Gartner Hype Cycle reports is the rapid maturation of the API security testing category. Gartner places it in the “Adolescent” maturity phase, with less than two years to reach the plateau.
This perspective implies that specialized API security testing is not a niche or emerging technology anymore. It is a proven and essential security control that is quickly becoming a standard for businesses. Organizations that delay adopting these solutions risk remaining vulnerable to API-based attacks.
In the final analysis, the pace at which this technology is becoming a standard indicates its fundamental role in modern application security. And the recognition of Equixly in the Gartner Hype Cycle reports highlights our focus on this critical area and the effectiveness of our platform in securing enterprises’ API-driven infrastructures.
Integrate Security, Not Friction Experience the benefits of automated API security testing and seamless CI/CD integration with Equixly.
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Hype Cycle for APIs, 2025 and Hype Cycle for Application Security, 2025 are the titles of Gartner research publications.
Gartner does not endorse vendors, products, or services featured in its research publications. The content of this article shows the views of Equixly and not Gartner, Inc. Gartner’s research should not be construed as an endorsement of any specific vendor, product, or service.
Zoran Gorgiev
Technical Content Specialist
Zoran is a technical content specialist with SEO mastery and practical cybersecurity and web technologies knowledge. He has rich international experience in content and product marketing, helping both small companies and large corporations implement effective content strategies and attain their marketing objectives. He applies his philosophical background to his writing to create intellectually stimulating content. Zoran is an avid learner who believes in continuous learning and never-ending skill polishing.