Artificial Intelligence complicates identity management struggles
In a recent report, SailPoint has shed light on the current state of identity management, revealing a shift towards adaptive and automated systems with AI playing a growing role. The report underscores the importance of controlling machine identities, which without proper measures can accumulate excessive permissions or remain active beyond their necessity, creating opportunities for attackers.
Data quality is a significant issue, with identity data often fragmented across multiple systems. This fragmentation can undermine access controls and slow automation efforts. Each advanced application requires tailored integrations and governance policies, making the management of machine identities a complex task that necessitates different approaches such as just-in-time access, dynamic privilege adjustments, and continuous monitoring.
Application onboarding is another challenge, with teams often lacking visibility into all applications and attempting to onboard too many at once. Poor data hygiene further complicates matters, as it undermines access controls and hinders automation efforts.
The report also highlights a shift in identity management priorities towards AI-driven identity management and the rise of machine identities. Organizations at lower maturity levels have fewer applications to manage compared to advanced organizations, with the latter managing approximately 3.6 times more applications. However, only 14% of respondents reported a completely successful IAM deployment.
The exact number of organizations in Europe and Latin America at higher maturity levels in their identity management programs is not specified in the available data. Technology and financial services companies are more likely to have reached higher maturity levels compared to healthcare, manufacturing, and many organizations in Europe and Latin America.
Less than four in ten organizations currently govern AI agents, and the majority of organizations are still in the early stages of building mature identity programs. Progress in identity capabilities is uneven, with for every three organizations that advanced their identity capabilities in the past year, two regressed.
Sixty-three percent of organizations rely on manual processes and basic tools to manage user access, while machine identities and AI agents are growing faster than any other type of identity. Matt Mills, President of SailPoint, stated that identity is the central control point for policies, decisions, and security operations, and its future is connected to security and AI-driven data governance.
Sixty percent of deployments missed timelines by at least a month, and almost half of the projects ran over budget. Organizations that clean and standardize identity data before deploying new tools are more likely to succeed. Only a small percentage of organizations have reached higher maturity levels where identity controls are automated and adaptive.
The report serves as a call to action for organizations to prioritize the management of machine identities and AI agents, invest in AI-driven identity management, and improve data quality to enhance security and automation efforts.
