What’s happening
Security teams are grappling with the number of software agents, service accounts and devices accessing company systems — often outnumbering human users. Tools to manage them are still maturing.
Timing: LATER — roughly 3–7 years before this becomes structural.
Why it matters
Without proper identity and permissions, an AI agent can do too much or be hijacked. Managing machine identities becomes a core part of security and accountability.
What would make it real
- Standards for identifying and authorizing AI agents
- Audit logs showing what every agent did
- Regulators and insurers require machine identity controls
What would kill it
- Systems too complex to manage
- Major breaches through agent identities
- Fragmented standards across vendors