Use Cases

Built for every team that
runs AI in production

From solo developers trimming their API bill to federal agencies accelerating ATO — see how Kairos maps to your specific operating context.

Solo Developer & Independent Builder

Build with every model. Pay for nothing extra.

You already pay for LLM API access. Kairos makes your API calls cheaper, smarter, and more powerful — without changing a single line of your integration. Change your base URL, keep your SDK, and immediately gain intelligent routing to 100+ models, ≥25% context compression that lowers your provider bill, and a real-time cost dashboard to track every cent.

  • One API — OpenAI-compatible, works with any SDK you already use
  • ≥25% context compression reduces your provider bill automatically
  • Intelligent routing sends cheap tasks to efficient models like DeepSeek or Gemini Flash
  • Usage dashboard shows every dollar, every request, every model used
  • API key management with per-key budget caps to prevent bill surprises
$0.0031avg saved per request through smart routing
kairos_quickstart.py
# One line change. Access every model.
from openai import OpenAI

client = OpenAI(
"api_key=kai_sk_…",
"base_url=https://api.kairos-ctx.ai/v1"
)

# Same SDK. 100+ models. Zero config.
> Routing to deepseek-chat · saved $0.0031 · 312ms
$0.0031
saved/req
deepseek
routed to
87ms
faster
Usage dashboard: 4.2M tokens · $12.40 cost this month · 26% compressed
Cursor & VS Code Developer

Keep Cursor and VS Code. Add enterprise governance.

Your engineers already live in Cursor, VS Code, and JetBrains — they should not have to switch tools to get governed AI. Because Kairos is a drop-in, OpenAI-compatible gateway, you simply point your editor's AI settings at the Kairos base URL and paste a Kairos API key. Nothing else changes. From that moment, every completion generated inside the IDE is DLP-scanned, checked against your compliance frameworks, intelligently routed to the best model, and cost-tracked per developer — with zero disruption to how your team already works.

  • Drop-in setup: set the OpenAI Base URL to https://api.kairos-ctx.ai/v1 and use a kai_ API key — no plugins to install
  • Works with Cursor's custom OpenAI base URL, VS Code (Continue.dev, Cline), JetBrains AI Assistant, and any OpenAI-compatible editor
  • DLP redacts secrets and PII from prompts before they ever leave your environment
  • Intent Firewall and compliance frameworks are enforced on every editor request at the gateway
  • Per-developer and per-key budget caps plus usage dashboards — see exactly what each engineer spends
  • Intelligent routing picks the best model per task, so IDE completions get cheaper without losing quality
2 fieldsbase URL + API key is all it takes to connect your IDE
Build → key → VS Code → governed result
Every editor completion: DLP-scanned · policy-checked · intelligently routed · cost-tracked per developer
Startup & Growth-Stage Team

Scale your AI spend with control, not fear.

Your team is shipping fast, but AI API bills are unpredictable and your models aren't always doing the right job. Kairos routes every request to the most cost-effective model that will still produce the quality you need — and enforces hard budget caps by team, key, or workspace so overage charges become impossible. Meanwhile, built-in DLP and compliance controls protect you from data leakage and audit exposure before they become expensive problems.

  • Hard monthly budget caps by team or API key — requests block, not just alert
  • Intelligent routing: premium models for complex tasks, fast/cheap for simple ones
  • Context compression cuts per-request token cost by ≥25% across the board
  • Real-time cost dashboard with per-model breakdown, CSV export for finance
  • OWASP LLM Top 10 and basic DLP enforcement from day one — no config required
54%average cost reduction for early-stage teams

Acme AI Platform

12 users · 5 workspaces · this month

$284
vs $612 unoptimized

Customer support chat

claude-haiku

$0.0003−68%

Code review PR diff

gpt-4o

$0.0048

Email summarization

deepseek-chat

$0.0001−72%

Contract analysis

gpt-4o

$0.0082

Docs Q&A

gemini-flash

$0.00006−58%
Spend vs. unoptimized baseline54% reduction
54%
Cost reduction
12
Active users
$328
Saved/mo
Enterprise

Governance and oversight at enterprise scale.

Enterprise AI deployments need more than routing: they need scoped policy, team segmentation, and verifiable evidence. Kairos binds governed gateway requests to a deterministic policy hash, applies hierarchical Command Center access, and produces tamper-evident request chains and scoped reporting. Framework mappings include both automated and manual controls; availability is not a claim of certification or universal enforcement.

  • Command Center RBAC: org → business units → members, each with separate budgets and permissions
  • 22 AI/LLM framework mappings with per-control status: automated, manual-required, external/legal, or disabled
  • Intent Firewall blocks jailbreaks, PII extraction, and prompt injection at the gateway
  • SHA-256 tamper-evident audit trail — exportable evidence packages for regulators and auditors
  • Executive trust dashboard: compliance posture score, model distribution, geolocation of requests
22available framework mappings with control-level status

Enterprise Command Center

GlobalCorp AI · 4 divisions · 87 users

22 frameworks active
EU AI Act · NIST · GDPR + 19 more
P

Product Engineering

42 users

$8,400

of $12,000

L

Legal & Compliance AI

8 users

$11,200

of $12,000

C

Customer Success AI

22 users

$3,100

of $6,000

D

Data Science

15 users

$4,800

of $8,000

Compliance posture: 98.4% · 0 critical violations
Shadow AI Discovery

Discover and govern the AI you don’t know about.

Sherlock detects known AI/LLM destinations visible at the scanner or DNS ingest point, estimates token cost from metadata, and attributes observations where network/device evidence is available. It does not decrypt messages. A normal endpoint covers itself; broader visibility requires gateway, routed-host, resolver, or mirror/SPAN placement. Gateway, managed-host, and DNS-domain enforcement have distinct coverage and are reported separately.

  • A generated command installs the scanner and repeated monitoring; coverage still depends on placement, privileges, and available DNS/SNI metadata
  • Detects OpenAI, Anthropic, Gemini, Mistral, Perplexity, DeepSeek, xAI, and more — attributed per network, device IP, and geolocation
  • Byte volume converted to estimated tokens and dollars — shadow spend appears in Usage & Cost as "Unknown AI/LLM usage"
  • Ignore or delete any network’s costs — you control what counts toward shadow-AI spend
  • Privacy-respecting and RBAC-scoped: metadata-only detection, governed by Command Center permissions
  • Try it free: one email-gated scan with no signup, unlimited monitoring during trial, free forever on 1 network — unlimited on paid plans
60sone scan to surface unsanctioned AI usage on your network
sherlock — Office WiFi
$ curl -fsSL https://api.kairos-ctx.ai/v1/sherlock/install.sh | sudo bash -s -- kai_… --network
Network sensor — coverage depends on on-path or mirror/SPAN placement; contents not decrypted

● OpenAI 192.168.1.42 · 18.4 MB$96.20/mo
● Anthropic 192.168.1.17 · 9.1 MB$61.80/mo
● Perplexity 192.168.1.88 · 4.6 MB$32.40/mo
● DeepSeek 192.168.1.31 · 3.2 MB$21.60/mo

> 4 devices · est. $212/mo of observed unknown AI usage
Review at Dashboard → Sherlock: ignore or delete per network
Detects OpenAI, Anthropic, Gemini, Mistral, Perplexity, DeepSeek, xAI & more · bytes → tokens → dollars
Federal & Defense

Accelerate time-to-ATO for mission-critical AI.

Federal and defense deployments require external assessment, authorization, and controls beyond an AI gateway. Kairos can contribute scoped policy hashes, tamper-evident gateway request evidence, control results, and reviewed feedback exports. Those artifacts can support an ATO process, but they do not establish FedRAMP/CMMC certification, replace an authorizing official, or prove improved model performance.

  • NIST SP 800-53, CMMC, and FedRAMP-oriented mappings can support customer control documentation
  • Gateway evidence includes effective policy hashes and configured runtime-control results
  • Human-in-the-Loop (HITL) review gates: route mission-critical requests to authorized reviewers before execution
  • Reviewed human corrections can be exported as JSONL; training and resulting model improvement happen outside this evidence flow
  • Private deployment remains subject to the purchased and verified deployment architecture
  • SHA-256 request chains can support evidence collection but do not by themselves satisfy STIG or DFARS requirements
Scopedgateway evidence for customer-led authorization work

Mission Assurance Platform

ATO Evidence Package · DoD System

ATO READY

NIST SP 800-53 AC-3

Access Enforcement

PASS

CMMC L2 AU.3.045

Review & Analyze Logs

PASS

FedRAMP SC-28

Protection at Rest

PASS

NIST AI RMF GV-1.1

AI Policy Documentation

PASS

CMMC L3 IR.3.098

Incident Reporting

REVIEW
4/5
Controls passed
SHA-256
Audit chain
VPC
Deploy mode
Token-metered · All features included

One platform. No feature walls.

Every use case above is covered by the same token-metered subscription. 14-day full-access trial, no credit card required.

14 days or 250K tokens · no credit card · full access from day one · free plan forever after

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