The hazard is not that AI brokers have dangerous days — it is that they by no means do. They execute faithfully, even when what they’re executing is a mistake. A single misstep in logic or entry can flip flawless automation right into a flawless disaster.
This is not some dystopian fantasy—it is Tuesday on the workplace now. We have entered a brand new part the place autonomous AI brokers act with critical system privileges. They execute code, deal with complicated duties, and entry delicate information with unprecedented autonomy. They do not sleep, do not ask questions, and do not at all times look forward to permission.
That is highly effective. That is additionally dangerous. As a result of right now’s enterprise threats go approach past your garden-variety phishing scams and malware. The fashionable safety perimeter? It is all about identification administration. This is the million-dollar query each CISO needs to be asking: Who or what has entry to your vital programs, are you able to safe and govern that entry, and might you really show it?
How identification grew to become the brand new safety perimeter
Bear in mind these old-school safety fashions constructed round firewalls and endpoint safety? They served their function as soon as — however they weren’t designed for the distributed, identity-driven threats we face right now. Identification has develop into the central management level, weaving complicated connections between customers, programs, and information repositories. The 2025-2026 SailPoint Horizons of Identity Security report reveals that identification administration has developed from a back-office management to mission-critical for the fashionable enterprise.
The explosion of AI brokers, automated programs, and non-human identities has dramatically expanded our assault surfaces. These entities at the moment are prime assault vectors. This is a sobering actuality verify: Fewer than 4 in 10 AI brokers are ruled by identification safety insurance policies, leaving a major hole in enterprise safety frameworks. Organizations with out complete identification visibility? They are not simply susceptible—they’re sitting geese.
The strategic goldmine of mature identification safety
However here is the place it will get attention-grabbing. Regardless of these mounting challenges, there is a large alternative for organizations that get identification safety proper. The Horizons of Identification Safety report reveals one thing fascinating: Organizations constantly obtain their highest ROI from identification safety applications in comparison with each different safety area. They rank Identification and Entry Administration as their top-ROI safety funding at twice the speed of different safety classes.
Why? As a result of mature identification safety pulls double responsibility—it prevents breaches whereas driving operational effectivity and enabling new enterprise capabilities. Organizations with mature identification applications, particularly these utilizing AI-driven capabilities and real-time identification information sync, present dramatically higher value financial savings and danger discount. Mature organizations are 4 instances extra more likely to have AI-enabled capabilities like Identification Menace Detection and Response.
The nice identification divide
This is the place issues get regarding: There is a rising chasm between organizations with mature identification applications and people nonetheless enjoying catch-up. The Horizons of Identity Security report reveals that 63% of organizations are caught in early-stage identification safety maturity (Horizons 1 or 2). These organizations aren’t simply lacking out—they’re going through extra danger towards fashionable threats.
This hole retains widening as a result of the bar retains rising. The 2025 framework added seven new functionality necessities to deal with rising risk vectors. Organizations that are not advancing their identification capabilities aren’t simply standing nonetheless—they’re successfully transferring backward. Organizations experiencing functionality regression present considerably decrease adoption charges for AI agent identification administration.
This problem goes past simply know-how. Solely 25% of organizations place IAM as a strategic enterprise enabler—the remainder see it as simply one other safety checkbox or compliance requirement. This slender view severely limits transformative potential and retains organizations susceptible to stylish assaults.
Time for a actuality verify
The risk panorama is evolving at breakneck velocity, with unprecedented danger ranges throughout all sectors. Identification safety has developed from simply one other safety part into the core of enterprise safety. Organizations have to actually assess their readiness for managing intensive AI agent deployments and automatic system entry.
A proactive evaluation of your present identification safety posture offers vital perception into organizational readiness and aggressive positioning.
Able to dive deeper? Get the full analysis and strategic recommendations within the 2025-2026 SailPoint Horizons of Identification Safety report.
