This community knows the talking points for the REST API: go headless, decouple the backend from the frontend, and use React.js now! But what does it mean to implement the REST API to solve actual production needs? 10up works with a wide variety of clients, across multiple verticals.. More and more, we are using the REST API as the solution to real-life client challenges. In this lightning talk, I will touch on a number of examples, moving away from the theoretical uses and towards production implementations. From content syndication across a multisite network, to location-based personalization, to powering mobile apps, the REST API is the appropriate solution to many real world development projects.