SGNL gives enterprises continuous, context-based control over who can access critical systems and sensitive data. Instead of relying on static roles and standing entitlements that stay valid long after they are needed, it grants and removes access as conditions change: whether a person is on call, whether a change request is approved, whether a device is healthy, whether a session suddenly looks risky.
The platform sits in the middle of an existing identity stack and strengthens the IGA, PAM and access management tools already in place rather than replacing them. It applies the same policies to human users and to AI agents, including agents that act through Model Context Protocol (MCP) servers.
At A Glance
| Vendor | SGNL |
|---|---|
| Category | Continuous identity and dynamic authorisation |
| Platform | The Continuous Identity Platform |
| Identities covered | Workforce users, privileged users and AI agents |
| Deployment | Platform with data sync from cloud and on-premises sources |
| Agentic AI | MCP Gateway, zero standing privilege for AI agents |
| Founded | 2021, Palo Alto, California |
| Ownership | Agreement to be acquired by CrowdStrike announced January 2026 |
| Market classification | Authorisation; also Agentic AI Identity |
What SGNL Does
Stolen or over-privileged credentials are one of the most common routes into a breach, and much of the problem is access that is always on. SGNL’s answer is dynamic, policy-driven access that adapts as conditions change.
To make those decisions, SGNL pulls identity data, business events and security signals into a single intelligence layer. A request is then judged on who someone is, what they are doing and what is changing around them. Access that is not justified by current context is simply not there, and access that becomes risky partway through a session can be cut back without shutting the user out entirely.
This matters most for privileged work on cloud infrastructure, code pipelines and customer data, where a standing admin role is a large target. It also extends to AI agents, which tend to accumulate broad permissions quickly.
Products
Privileged Session Management
Privileged session management is for security teams that need to end risky access the moment circumstances change, not at the next access review. SGNL uses CAEP signals and proprietary protocols to revoke or reduce privileged sessions. During an incident it can log a user out of critical applications to force reauthentication, or remove only the permissions tied to suspicious actions. The aim is a proportionate, automated response that slows an attack down without disrupting legitimate work.
Zero Standing Privilege
Zero standing privilege removes always-on access to critical systems. People receive access only when context supports it, such as an approved change request or an active on-call shift, and lose it when that context ends. Thousands of static roles can be replaced with human-readable policies, which makes it easier for auditors and system owners to see why someone has access. SGNL applies the same model to AI agents. Just-in-time access management is part of this capability.
Context-Based Authorisation
Context-based authorisation evaluates each request against live data from identity, business and security systems. It provides conditional access for cloud infrastructure, code pipelines, AI agents and customer data, and custom applications can call it through an authorisation API instead of hard-coding their own permission logic.
CAEP Hub
The CAEP Hub is SGNL’s event framework for responding to identity and security events in near real time. It lets customers adopt the OpenID CAEP, SSF and RISC standards, acting as both transmitter and receiver, so that an event raised in one system (a session revoked, for instance) is acted on by the others.
MCP Gateway
AI agents are spreading across enterprises faster than security teams can govern them, and many hold permissions far broader than their task needs. The MCP Gateway places SGNL’s policy enforcement between MCP clients and the MCP servers that agents use to reach data and tools, checking identity, device compliance and request context on every call. It works on a default deny basis: agents can reach only MCP servers listed in an enterprise-wide registry. Every agent interaction is recorded, so security teams can see what agents are actually doing. The gateway is in private availability.
How It Works
The platform has three parts: an Identity Data Fabric, a dynamic Policy Engine and the CAEP Hub event framework.
| Component | What it does |
|---|---|
| Identity Data Fabric | Data is synchronised from cloud and on-premises sources into one graph, and every access decision is evaluated against it. Context comes from HR systems (employment and role), on-call tools, ticketing systems (whether a change request is approved and active) and device management (device health). |
| Policy Engine | Policies are written in plain language and evaluated against the graph whenever a request arrives or the context changes. |
| CAEP Hub | Signals flow in and out of the platform through the shared signals standards, so revocation decisions reach identity providers and applications quickly. |
| Enforcement | Decisions are enforced at the protected systems themselves: cloud platforms, code repositories, SaaS applications, API gateways, the existing identity provider and MCP servers. |
Identities And Systems Covered
| Workforce users | Sessions and entitlements evaluated continuously |
|---|---|
| Privileged users | Privileged sessions and standing access on critical systems |
| AI agents | Agent actions carried out through MCP servers |
| Identity providers | Okta, Microsoft Entra ID, Auth0 |
| Cloud platforms | AWS, Azure and GCP |
| Code and SaaS | GitHub, Salesforce, Snowflake |
| API gateways | Kong, AWS API Gateway, Azure APIM |
Integrations
| Area | Integrations |
|---|---|
| Operations context | Jira, PagerDuty |
| Shared signals interoperability | Cisco Duo, SailPoint, Helisoft |
Company Background
| Founders | Scott Kriz and Erik Gustavson |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | Palo Alto, California, United States |
| Leadership | Scott Kriz (CEO and Co-founder), Erik Gustavson (CPO and Co-founder), Atul Tulshibagwale (CTO) |
| Funding | A $30 million Series A with Costanoa Ventures, Microsoft’s M12 and Cisco Investments, bringing the total raised to $42 million |
| Acquisition | CrowdStrike announced an agreement to acquire SGNL in January 2026, in a deal valued at a reported $740 million |
| Recognition | Included in the 2025 Gartner Cool Vendors in Identity-First Security report |
Note: This overview is compiled from SGNL’s publicly available information as of 3 November 2026. It is provided for information only. NHI Mgmt Group does not endorse any vendor, and nothing on this page represents the opinions of NHI Mgmt Group.