Why AI Agents Need Strong Identity Governance?

Check the full blog from Okta here: https://www.okta.com/blog/2025/07/beyond-human-users-why-identity-governance-for-ai-agents-is-your-next-big-challenge/?source=nhimg.org

AI agents are no longer experimental — they’re now part of daily business operations. In fact, over 51% of companies globally are already deploying them. But while the technology is moving fast, security and governance haven’t kept up.

In this insightful article, Okta highlights a growing challenge in cybersecurity: managing the identities of AI agents, also known as non-human identities (NHIs). These are not people — they’re software-based agents, service accounts, or automation tools that access systems, make decisions, and interact across platforms without direct human control.

Traditional identity security tools weren’t built for this. AI agents:

• Don’t log in like humans — they use tokens, certificates, and APIs.

• Are ephemeral — created and destroyed automatically by pipelines.

• Often have privileged access to sensitive data and critical systems.

• Lack traceable ownership, creating accountability and audit challenges.

Worse, many organizations don’t even have policies in place to govern these identities. Okta cites research showing:

• 23% of IT pros reported credential leaks caused by AI agents.

• 80% experienced unintended agent behavior.

• Only 44% have a clear AI identity governance policy.

The result? AI agents are becoming a major blind spot in enterprise security.

Okta’s Solution:

Okta proposes a unified, identity-first approach to managing AI agents:

• Central visibility & logging for all identities (human & non-human)

• Standardized authentication and authorization for agents

• Least privilege enforcement to limit agent access

• Cross-Application Access (CAA) to replace static credentials with real-time, policy-based controls

The message is clear: as AI agents grow in number and complexity, governing their identities becomes essential — not just for compliance, but for preventing breaches.