AI Gateway Operating Model: Identity, Policy, Observability, and Cost Controls

This article explains that an AI gateway's value comes from its operating model, not just its technical insertion. It emphasizes product ownership, separating platform and policy ownership, and establishing an operating loop: identity informs policy, policy controls traffic, telemetry informs cost and risk. Practical questions about route ownership, model access approval, identity preservation, telemetry capture, token spend governance, and safe policy promotion from dev to production are addressed. The article is part of a series on AI gateways as enterprise control points, focusing on making them governable, observable, and safe for production adoption.