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PROFIT MARGINS FOR U.S. HOME SELLERS MOSTLY UNCHANGED DURING SECOND QUARTER DESPITE RENEWED PRICE SPIKE

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Returns on Typical U.S. Home Sales Increase Slightly to 56 Percent; Margins Generally Flat Even as Median U.S. Home Price Hits New High During Spring Buying Season; Median Raw Profits Rise Back Over $130,000

IRVINE, Calif., July 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — ATTOM, a leading curator of land, property, and real estate data, today released its second-quarter 2024 U.S. Home Sales Report, which shows that home sellers earned a 55.8 percent profit margin on typical single-family home and condo sales in the United States during the second quarter. That figure was largely unchanged, rising about one percentage point from the first quarter of 2024, but remaining down one point from the second quarter of last year.

The nationwide investment return barely moved, and still was far behind a highwater mark hit in 2022, despite the median U.S. home price shooting up during the 2024 Spring home-buying season to a new record of $365,000.

The price surge did help boost typical raw profits for sellers back over $130,000. That nearly marked a new all-time peak. But it failed to broadly boost profit margins – the percentage return on investment – around the country because the renewed price surge was not enough to outpace spikes recent sellers had been absorbing when they originally bought their homes.

“The second-quarter profit report offers a mixed bag of plusses and minuses that added up to an overall picture of not much change for sellers,” said Rob Barber, chief executive officer for ATTOM. “Prices jumped back upward, which was great news for owners. So did raw profits. Profit margins also remained historically elevated. But the bottom-line profit-margin trend didn’t move much at all because soaring prices are far from a new thing. Even greater price improvements will be needed to kick margins up over the rest of the year.”

The latest price and profit numbers reflect a period when the national median home value shot up 9 percent quarterly and 6 percent annually. Those gains came amid the usual Springtime rise in demand among house hunters, combined with home-mortgage rates remaining relatively stable at just below 7 percent for a 30-year fixed loan, and historically tight supplies of homes for sale that made bargains few and far between. 

The price increases, however, did not boost investment returns notably because median values had been rising about 8 percent quarterly and 7 percent annually during the time when homeowners were buying the properties they then sold during the second-quarter of this year. Those similar price patterns largely cancelled each other out.

Profit margins tick upward quarterly while still down annually in majority of nation
Typical profit margins – the percent difference between median purchase and resale prices – increased from the first quarter of 2024 to the second quarter of 2024 in 94 (58.8 percent) of the 160 metropolitan statistical areas around the U.S. with sufficient data to analyze. But they remained down annually in 100, or 62.5 percent, of those metros.

They also were down in about three quarters of those areas from the second quarter of 2022, when the nationwide return on median-priced home sales peaked at 64.3 percent.

The higher end of the housing market – metro areas where home values mostly topped $350,000 – absorbed the brunt of the year-over-year softening of profit margins. About three quarters of those areas saw typical margins decline compared to about half of lower-priced markets. Metro areas were included if they had sufficient population and at least 1,000 single-family home and condo sales in the second quarter of 2024.

The biggest year-over-year decreases in typical profit margins came in the metro areas of Hilo, HI (margin down from 80.5 percent in the second quarter of 2023 to 45.3 percent in the second quarter of 2024); Port St. Luce, FL (down from 95 percent to 73.9 percent); Daphne-Fairhope, FL (down from 49.8 percent to 34 percent); Crestview–Fort Walton Beach, FL (down from 60.7 percent to 45.1 percent) and Naples, FL (down from 84.9 percent to 69.2 percent).

The biggest annual profit-margin decreases in metro areas with a population of at least 1 million in the second quarter of 2024 were in Honolulu, HI (return down from 51.8 percent to 38.5 percent); Austin, TX (down from 50.3 percent to 40.3 percent); Nashville, TN (down from 72.9 percent to 63.3 percent); Seattle, WA (down from 94.4 percent to 85 percent) and San Antonio, TX (down from 34.9 percent to 27 percent).

The biggest annual improvements in returns on investment came in Syracuse, NY (margin up from 51.6 percent in the second quarter of 2023 to 71.8 percent in the second quarter of 2024); Rockford, IL (up from 54.8 percent to 74.5 percent); Scranton, PA (up from 79.9 percent to 97.7 percent); Lansing, MI (up from 50.1 percent to 62.7 percent) and Roanoke, VA (up from 45.1 percent to 56.1 percent).

The largest annual increases in profit margins among metro areas with a population of at least 1 million came in Rochester, NY (up from 66.2 percent to 76 percent); Cleveland, OH (up from 53.5 percent to 61 percent); Hartford, CT (up from 65.8 percent to 73.3 percent); Chicago, IL (up from 39.5 percent to 46.1 percent) and Providence, RI (up from 73.3 percent to 78.8 percent).

Investment returns still exceed 50 percent in two-thirds of U.S.
Despite the latest trends, returns on investment for median-priced home sales during the second quarter of 2024 surpassed 50 percent in 106 of the metro areas analyzed (66.3 percent). That was down from almost three quarters of those areas in the second quarter of last year but far above the level of about 10 percent five years ago.

The investment return leaders among areas with a population of at least 1 million in the second quarter of this year were San Jose, CA (typical return of 109.6 percent); Seattle, WA (85 percent); San Francisco, CA (83.6 percent); Boston, MA (81.3 percent) and Miami, FL (80.3 percent).

Among areas with a population of at least 1 million, those with the lowest typical returns were in New Orleans, LA (24.4 percent); San Antonio, TX (27 percent); Houston, TX (34.8 percent); Virginia Beach, VA (37.3 percent) and Dallas, TX (37.9 percent).

Raw profits return to near-record level
The raw profit on median-priced home sales nationwide, measured in dollars, rose 10.1 percent quarterly and 5.2 percent annually during the months running from April through June of 2024. The latest raw profit of $130,712 marked the high point since a level of $135,000 in the Spring of 2022.

Typical raw profits were up quarterly in 134, or 83.8 percent, of the markets analyzed, and annually in 86, or 53.8 percent.

The biggest year-over-year increases in raw profits on typical sales among metro areas with a population of at least 1 million were in Chicago, IL (up 21.6 percent); Hartford, CT (up 18.4 percent); Rochester, NY (up 18 percent); Cleveland, OH (up 17 percent) and New York, NY (up 15 percent).

Raw profits on median-priced sales exceeded $100,000 during the second quarter in 62.5 percent of the metro areas analyzed, with 18 of the top 20 along the east or west coasts. They were led by San Jose, CA (raw profit of $836,500); San Francisco, CA ($547,000); San Diego, CA ($400,000); Los Angeles, CA ($375,500) and Barnstable, MA ($365,000).

The 30 lowest raw profits were all in the Midwest or South. The smallest were in Shreveport, LA ($8,063); Beaumont, TX ($27,266); Columbus, GA ($37,703); Lubbock, TX ($38,083) and Peoria, IL ($38,700).

Spring buying season of 2024 spurs quarterly and annual price surges
Nationwide, the median price of single-family homes and condos jumped from $335,000 in the first quarter of this year to $365,000 in the second quarter. It also was up from $344,000 in the second quarter of last year.

The typical value increased quarterly in 95.7 percent of the metro areas around the country with enough data to analyze and annually in 89.6 percent. It hit new highs in about 75 percent of those markets.

The Midwest and Northeast benefitted most from the latest price spike, with about three-quarters of the metro areas in those regions seeing gains of at least 5 percent annually.

Metro areas with the biggest year-over-year increases in median home prices were Des Moines, IA (up 16.8 percent); Trenton, NJ (up 16.2 percent); Fort Wayne, IN (up 15.2 percent); Scranton, PA (up14.3 percent) and Albany, NY (up 14.1 percent).

The largest annual median-price increases in metro areas with a population of at least 1 million were in San Jose, CA (up 11.5 percent); Detroit, MI (up 11.3 percent); Hartford, CT (up 11.1 percent); New York, NY (up 9.9 percent) and Miami, FL (up 9.7 percent).

Metro areas with a population of at least 1 million where the median home price went down most from the second quarter of last year to the same period this year were Austin, TX (down 3.1 percent); Memphis, TN (down 3 percent); Honolulu, HI (down 2.5 percent); Birmingham, AL (down 2.2 percent) and San Antonio, TX (down 1.4 percent).

Historical Median Home Sales Prices 

Homeownership tenure up slightly
Homeowners who sold in the second quarter of 2024 had owned their homes an average of 7.88 years. That was up from 7.7 years in the first quarter of 2024 and from 7.59 years in the second quarter of 2023.

Average tenure was up from the second quarter of 2023 to the same period this year in 80 percent of metro areas with sufficient data. The largest annual increases were in Lake Havasu City, AZ (tenure up 18 percent); Redding, CA (up 16 percent); Salinas, CA (up 15 percent); Manchester, NH (up 13 percent) and Vallejo, CA (up 12 percent).

The longest 35 average tenures for owners who sold in the second quarter were again in the Northeast or West regions of the U.S. They were led by Barnstable, MA (13.46 years); Bridgeport, CT (12.58 years); Hartford, CT (12.4 years); Santa Rosa, CA (12.29 years) and Boston, MA (12.25 years).

Average U.S. Homeownership Tenure

The smallest average tenures among second-quarter sellers were in Crestview–Fort Walton Beach, FL (6.55 years); Panama City, FL (6.59 years); Ocala, FL (6.61 years); Oklahoma City, OK (6.67 years) and Austin, TX (6.71 years).

Lender-owned foreclosures back down again
Home sales following foreclosures by banks and other lenders represented just 1.4 percent, or one of every 73 U.S. single-family home and condo sales in the second quarter of 2024. That was down from 1.7 percent in the first quarter of 2024 and from 1.5 percent in the second quarter of last year. The figure continues to represent just a tiny fraction of the 30.1 percent peak this century hit in early 2009 during the aftermath of the Great Recession of 2007.

Among metro areas with sufficient data, those where REO sales represented the largest portion of all sales in the second quarter of 2024 included Honolulu (5.9 percent, or one in 17 sales); Shreveport, LA (4.8 percent); St. Louis, MO (4.2 percent); Flint, MI (3.7 percent) and Baton Rouge, LA (3.3 percent).

Cash sales decline as portion of all transactions
Nationwide, all-cash purchases accounted for 39.1 percent of single-family home and condo sales in the second quarter of 2024. That was down slightly from 41.6 percent in the first quarter of 2024, although up from 37.1 percent in the second quarter of last year.

“Cash-sale levels dropped a bit in the second quarter, but remained above average as mortgage rates hovered back and forth around 7 percent for 30-year fixed loan,” Barber said. “With no sign that rates are headed down significantly, which would lower borrowing costs, we are likely to continue seeing higher portions of cash deals.”

Among metropolitan areas with sufficient data, those where all-cash sales represented the largest share of all transactions in the second quarter of 2024 included Myrtle Beach, SC (68.7 percent of all sales); Claremont–Lebanon, NH (63.6 percent); Naples, FL (61.5 percent); Utica, NY (61.2 percent) and Columbus, GA (60.8 percent).

Those where cash sales represented the smallest share of all transactions in the second quarter of 2024 included Greeley, CO (16.4 percent); Vallejo, CA (19 percent); Charleston, WV (19.2 percent); Jacksonville, NC (22 percent) and Stockton, CA (22 percent).

Institutional investment drops
Institutional investors nationwide accounted for 6 percent, or one of every 17 single-family home and condo purchases in the second quarter of 2024. That was down from 6.4 percent in the first quarter of 2024 and from 6.6 percent in the second quarter of last year.

Among states with enough data to analyze, those with the largest percentages of sales to institutional investors in the second quarter of 2024 included Tennessee (8.7 percent of all sales), Alabama (8.2 percent), Oklahoma (8.1 percent), Georgia (8.1 percent) and Mississippi (8 percent).

States with the smallest levels of sales to institutional investors in the second quarter of 2024 included Rhode Island (2.1 percent), New Hampshire (2.8 percent), Maine (3.1 percent), New York (3.3 percent) and Massachusetts (3.7 percent).

Historical Home Sales by Type

FHA-financed purchases also dip downward
Nationwide, buyers using Federal Housing Administration (FHA) loans comprised 8.3 percent of all single-family home and condo purchases in the second quarter of 2024 (one of every 12). That was down from 8.6 percent in the first quarter of 2024 and from 9.1 percent a year earlier.

Among metropolitan areas with sufficient FHA-buyer data, those with the highest levels of sales to FHA purchasers in the second quarter of 2024 included Lakeland, FL (24.2 percent of all sales); Merced, CA (23.3 percent); Bakersfield, CA (21.5 percent); Kennewick, WA (20.1 percent) and Visalia, CA (19.7 percent).

Report methodology
The ATTOM U.S. Home Sales Report provides percentages of REO sales and all sales that are sold to institutional investors and cash buyers, at the state and metropolitan statistical area. Data is also available at the county and zip code level, upon request. The data is derived from recorded sales deeds, foreclosure filings and loan data. Statistics for previous quarters are revised when each new report is issued as more deed data becomes available.

Definitions
All-cash purchase: sale where no loan is recorded at the time of sale and where ATTOM has coverage of loan data.

Homeownership tenure: for a given market and given quarter, the average time between the most recent sale date and the previous sale date, expressed in years.

Home seller price gains: the difference between the median sales price of homes in a given market in a given quarter and the median sales price of the previous sale of those same homes, expressed both in a dollar amount and as a percentage of the previous median sales price.

Institutional investor purchases: residential property sales to non-lending entities that purchased at least 10 properties in a calendar year.

REO sale: a sale of a property that occurs while the property is actively bank owned (REO).

About ATTOM
ATTOM provides premium property data to power products that improve transparency, innovation, efficiency, and disruption in a data-driven economy. ATTOM multi-sources property tax, deed, mortgage, foreclosure, environmental risk, natural hazard, and neighborhood data for more than 155 million U.S. residential and commercial properties covering 99 percent of the nation’s population. A rigorous data management process involving more than 20 steps validates, standardizes, and enhances the real estate data collected by ATTOM, assigning each property record with a persistent, unique ID — the ATTOM ID. The 30TB ATTOM Data Warehouse fuels innovation in many industries including mortgage, real estate, insurance, marketing, government and more through flexible data delivery solutions that include ATTOM Cloud, bulk file licenses, property data APIs, real estate market trends, property navigator and more. Also, introducing our newest innovative solution, making property data more readily accessible and optimized for AI applications– AI-Ready Solutions.

Media Contact:
Megan Hunt
megan.hunt@attomdata.com 

Data and Report Licensing:
datareports@attomdata.com

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U.S. Quartz Workers: Strong Safeguard Remedies Needed to Save 100,000 American Manufacturing Jobs

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July 23, 2026

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WASHINGTON, July 23, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — The Quartz Manufacturers Alliance for America (QMAA) released a powerful video featuring quartz manufacturing workers from across the country calling for free and fair trade policies to save 100,000 American jobs. QMAA, a coalition of leading U.S.-based quartz slab manufacturers, are calling for strong safeguard remedies after the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) found a huge flood of foreign imports had caused tremendous injury to the domestic quartz industry.

QMAA members are urging the Trump Administration to build on the ITC’s strong recommendation and address this major flood of quartz imports with a Tariff of 50% and a Reshoring Import Cap of 141 million square feet on imported quartz surface products. This will ensure a reshoring of the good-paying U.S. quartz manufacturing jobs stolen by companies who cheat U.S. trade law, distort competition and are decimating U.S. quartz manufacturing. Together, these trade remedies will provide the relief necessary to save the 100,000 jobs supported by the U.S. quartz industry.

The video features workers from LX Hausys, Guidoni USA and Cambria Company and is available here:
Save 100,000 American Quartz Jobs

Quotes from QMAA Quartz Manufacturing Workers
“This facility used to be a Husqvarna plant. Husqvarna closed down due to cheap foreign imports. There were over 1,000 people working here and all of a sudden…I’m worried I may see the same thing take place again.”
-Raymond Mack, Production Operator, Guidoni USA, Helena-McRae, GA

“Foreign countries, mainly China, Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam, Indonesia, have been circumventing and cheating the American market. We believe in the industry. We believe in the American working power. We just want to level the playing field, make it fair for everyone and everyone will benefit.”
– Daniel Vas de Melo SA, Business Development Manager, Guidoni USA, McRae-Helena, GA

“In order for us to continue to compete, we need a strong Tariff and Import Cap on imported quartz surfaces. That will ensure we can play on an even playing field. That’s all we’re asking for. I would hate to see cheap, imported quartz have a negative impact on families such as mine and the other families that we employ here.”
– Mike Morici, Vice President – LX Hausys, Adairsville, GA

“The surge of foreign imports has shocked the U.S. economy, and the market for surfaces. It’s taken prices down to unsustainably low levels for any domestic supplier. The result of that is we’re not producing as much as we should, we can’t hire as many people as we would like to, and we can’t grow our business in the way that we and our peers in the U.S. want to grow.”
– Andrew Eich, President and Chief Operating Officer, Cambria

“As these foreign imports flood the market, we lose the ability to create and sustain jobs that ensure good paying conditions for manufacturing workers. There will be over 100,000 jobs that have the strong potential to go away.”
– Jack Sundry, SVP Core and Lexus – Cambria, Southern Minnesota

Background
In September 2025, QMAA filed a Global Safeguard petition with the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) under Section 201 of the U.S. Trade Act of 1974. The ITC’s thorough investigation found serious injury to the domestic industry caused by a massive import surge designed to undercut American businesses. Quartz imports have surged by 78.3% within the past five years, leading to a nearly 20% decline in domestic production, factory closures and major job reductions.

A final safeguard decision from the United States Trade Representative is expected by Aug. 1, 2026.

About the Quartz Manufacturing Alliance for America:
QMAA is a coalition of U.S.-based, American quartz slab manufacturing factories, united with other industry leaders to support and strengthen the American quartz industry. QMAA is committed to ensuring a free and fair, competitive marketplace born of free enterprise that provides the opportunity to compete on a level playing field for American quartz slab manufacturing factories and their valued workers. We also believe this effort will have a positive impact throughout the entire quartz surfacing industry, including to the strong benefit of American stone fabrication shops and upstream suppliers of quartz minerals and resin. Learn more at: https://www.qmaa.org/

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SOURCE Quartz Manufacturing Alliance of America

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Databricks and Microsoft expand partnership to help enterprises bring business context to enterprise AI

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July 23, 2026

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Databricks and Microsoft extend strategic partnership through the 2030s to scale enterprise AIDatabricks deepens its bet on Azure, growing its use of Azure Databricks to run its own core business operations and analytics, while both companies advance native integration across the Microsoft stack, including Databricks Genie and Microsoft 365Databricks increases its use of Microsoft Azure Cobalt to improve performance and efficiency

REDMOND, Wash. and SAN FRANCISCO, July 23, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Microsoft Corp. and Databricks on Wednesday announced an expansion of their decade-long strategic partnership, extending into the 2030s. Databricks will deepen its use of Azure Databricks to run core business operations and build its unified lakehouse, while leveraging Azure Cobalt, Microsoft’s next-generation Arm-based infrastructure, to improve performance and efficiency. Microsoft will also continue integrating Databricks Data and AI platform across its products, bringing capabilities like Genie, Databricks’ AI co-worker, directly into customer workflows. Together, the companies are helping enterprises build AI grounded in their own business context with the cost efficiency, control and choice needed to scale successfully.

Enterprises want AI that understands their customers, products, operations, metrics and business processes, all while running securely where work happens. Yet, most still struggle to connect AI to trusted business knowledge, govern models and agents consistently, and control costs. Microsoft and Databricks are helping customers close that gap: 

“For nearly a decade, Databricks and Microsoft have helped enterprises innovate with data and AI,” said Ali Ghodsi, Co‑Founder and CEO of Databricks. “Today, our partnership is stronger than ever. With Databricks Genie and Unity AI Gateway deeply integrated across Microsoft’s products, we’re helping enterprises unify their data and ground AI in business knowledge. This lets customers get the full benefits of agents and models while controlling costs and ensuring governance.”

“The next generation of AI will be defined by how effectively organizations turn their unique knowledge into intelligence,” said Judson Althoff, CEO, Microsoft Commercial Business. “Microsoft and Databricks are helping customers connect data, AI and business context to accelerate decision-making and drive measurable impact. With Databricks deepening its investment in Azure Databricks and Azure Cobalt-powered infrastructure, customers will benefit from greater performance, efficiency and scale for their most demanding workloads. Databricks’ decision to run its own core business operations on Azure Databricks also gives customers confidence in a platform proven at enterprise scale.”

Databricks runs core business operations on Azure Databricks 

As part of this latest deal, Databricks deepens its commitment to Azure, running its own core business operations and analytics on Azure Databricks, using the very platform it delivers to customers at scale.

Advancing performance with Azure Cobalt

Databricks will also expand its use of Azure Cobalt, Microsoft’s next-generation Arm-based infrastructure, to improve performance and efficiency for agentic and data-intensive workloads. Databricks currently uses Cobalt 100 and plans to adopt Cobalt 200, which delivers up to 50% better performance and includes memory encryption enabled by default.

Deep integrations for Databricks Genie and Unity AI Gateway with Microsoft product stack

By combining the Databricks Data + AI Platform with Azure’s global scale, customers can accelerate AI transformation while maintaining control and reliability. As a native Azure service, Azure Databricks makes its AI capabilities available directly within customers’ existing Microsoft environment, grounding and operating agents on enterprise data with Genie and Genie Ontology, and governing models, agents and cost through Unity AI Gateway. Deeply integrated across the Microsoft ecosystem spanning Microsoft Entra, Azure Data Lake Storage, Azure security, Microsoft OneLake, Power BI, Microsoft Purview, Microsoft Foundry, Power Platform, Microsoft 365, Teams and Copilot, these capabilities bring governed, real-time data and AI into business workflows, giving organizations the context, control, choice and cost efficiency needed to drive impact.

Continued investment is evident from our recent announcements with Databricks at Data + AI Summit in June.

Customer impact with Azure Databricks

The deepened collaboration strengthens support for joint customers running data, analytics and AI workloads on Azure Databricks, delivering improved performance, security, AI governance and enterprise readiness. Thousands of customers, including Banco Bradesco, the Cincinnati Reds, Electrolux, SMBC and Unilever, already use Azure Databricks to run critical workloads and scale AI with confidence.

Read more on the proven business value of the Databricks and Microsoft partnership on the Microsoft Azure blog.

About Databricks

Databricks is the Data and AI company. More than 20,000 organizations worldwide — including AT&T, Bayer, BMW Group, HSBC, T-Mobile, Unilever, and 70% of the Fortune 500 — rely on Databricks Data + AI Platform to build and scale data and AI apps, analytics and agents. Headquartered in San Francisco with 30+ offices around the globe, Databricks offers a unified platform that includes Genie, Lakebase, Agent Bricks, Lakeflow, Lakehouse, and Unity Catalog. To learn more, follow Databricks on LinkedIn, X, YouTube, and Instagram.

About Microsoft

Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT” @microsoft) creates platforms and tools powered by AI to deliver innovative solutions that meet the evolving needs of our customers. The technology company is committed to making AI available broadly and doing so responsibly, with a mission to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more.

 

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Harness and Kong Expand Strategic Partnership to Deliver Comprehensive API and AI Security

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July 23, 2026

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Joint solution extends proven API gateway security to the AI era — with automated AI discovery and runtime AI protection

SAN FRANCISCO, July 23, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Harness, the AI Software Delivery Platform™ company, and Kong Inc., a leading developer of API and AI connectivity technologies, today announced an expansion of their strategic partnership to address the growing security challenges posed by AI-driven architectures, autonomous agents, and Model Context Protocol (MCP) deployments.

According to The State of AI-Native Application Security 2025 report, as enterprises race to deploy AI at scale, 62% have no visibility into where LLMs are in use across their environment, and 74% say AI sprawl will outpace API sprawl when it comes to risk — making embedded, infrastructure-level security more critical than ever. And companies are now deploying agents into their operations at an exponentially increasing rate, making it a necessity to protect the agents themselves and the systems interacting with those agents.

The two companies are extending their joint solution from Kong API Gateway to also include Kong AI Gateway, bringing Harness’s AI security intelligence directly into the AI infrastructure layer and enabling enterprises to discover, monitor, and protect every agent, AI asset, LLM-powered service, and MCP-connected workflow that traverses it.

A Proven Foundation: Harness and Kong API Gateway

Harness and Kong have been jointly trusted by enterprises to deliver best-in-class API security for years. The existing Harness and Kong API Gateway integration provides:

Comprehensive API traffic visibility and behavioral analysis across all Kong-managed servicesReal-time detection and blocking of API threats, including OWASP API Security Top 10 risks, credential stuffing attacks, and business logic abuseContinuous sensitive data tracking to identify PII exposure and regulatory riskZero-friction deployment alongside existing Kong configurations

This new offering of the AI Gateway solution applies the same level of security depth to AI infrastructure, ensuring that security teams are not left behind as their organizations adopt AI and agentic operations.

“Our partnership with Harness has given joint customers production-grade API security that works with the way they build, not against it,” said Ken Kim, Senior Vice President, Business Development at Kong Inc. “Extending to include Kong AI Gateway is a natural next step. The same enterprises are now moving AI into production through our gateway and need the same depth of visibility and control they’ve come to rely on for their APIs for all AI traffic types including LLM, MCP, and A2A. That’s exactly what this delivers and is crucial for organizations scaling in the agentic era.”

The New Frontier: Kong AI Gateway and Harness AI Security

As enterprises accelerate AI adoption, the attack surface has fundamentally shifted. AI agents, LLM-powered microservices, and MCP-enabled integrations introduce new vectors that traditional security tools were not designed to address. Unlike traditional software, AI agents are non-deterministic — the same agent can behave differently on consecutive runs, making it impossible to secure them the way you’d secure a static API. The new Harness and Kong AI Gateway integration directly tackles these challenges across two critical domains: AI discovery and AI protection.

AI Discovery
Harness automatically inventories every AI asset, API, MCP server, tool, prompt, and resource routed through Kong AI Gateway — providing security teams with a continuously updated catalog of their AI attack surface. No manual documentation. No blind spots.

AI Protection
Harness applies behavioral analysis and anomaly detection to AI traffic in real time, identifying prompt injection attacks, data exfiltration through AI responses, jailbreaking, malicious code in prompts, and other AI-specific threats. Enterprises gain the same depth of observability and protection for their agents and AI workloads that they already rely on for traditional APIs, with full prompt and response details available for incident investigation and inline policy enforcement through Kong AI Gateway.

“Shadow AI has become the defining security blind spot for enterprises today. Traditional tools were built for static code and predictable systems, not for adaptive AI models, agent-to-agent communication, and MCP-connected workflows that evolve continuously,” said Rahul Sood, GM of Application Security at Harness. “This integration of Harness AI Security with Kong puts security intelligence directly into the connectivity layer where AI traffic flows. Joint customers now have the visibility and control they need to move fast without losing sight of what’s happening across their AI infrastructure.”

Availability

The Harness and Kong API Gateway integration is generally available today for all joint customers. The Kong AI Gateway integration, including AI Discovery and AI Protection, is also generally available now. Joint customers can contact their account team or request a demo.

About Harness
Harness is the AI Software Delivery Platform™ company, enabling engineering teams to build, test, and deliver software faster and more securely. Powered by Harness AI and the Software Delivery Knowledge Graph, the platform brings intelligent automation to every stage of the software delivery lifecycle after code — removing toil and freeing developers from manual, repetitive work. Companies like United Airlines, Morningstar, and Choice Hotels use Harness to accelerate releases by up to 75%, cut cloud costs by 60%, and achieve 10x efficiency across DevOps. Based in San Francisco, Harness is backed by Goldman Sachs, Menlo Ventures, IVP, Unusual Ventures, and Citi Ventures.

About Kong

Kong Inc., a leading developer of API and AI connectivity technologies, is building the connectivity layer of AI. Trusted by the Fortune 500® and AI-native startups alike, Kong’s unified API and AI platform enables organizations to secure, manage, accelerate, govern, and monetize the flow of intelligence across APIs and AI traffic — on any model, any cloud. For more information, visit www.konghq.com.

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