As artificial intelligence agents rapidly transform enterprise operations, organizations are facing new security challenges that traditional identity frameworks were not designed to handle. Okta’s latest announcement introduces a new approach to secure agentic enterprise architecture, aiming to help businesses manage, monitor, and control AI driven systems operating across their environments.
Okta, a leading independent identity provider, has introduced a blueprint for the secure agentic enterprise alongside a new platform called Okta for AI Agents. The initiative is designed to help organizations answer three critical questions in the evolving AI landscape: where AI agents exist within their systems, what resources they can access, and what actions they are permitted to perform. The platform enables enterprises to discover both authorized and unsanctioned AI agents, standardize their access, and revoke permissions instantly when risks are detected.
Ric Smith, President of Products and Technology at Okta, emphasized the urgency of evolving security models to match the pace of AI innovation. “AI agents are evolving faster than any software before them, making traditional security models obsolete. Speed is now a given, but security is the differentiator,” said Ric Smith, President of Products & Technology, Okta. “With this new blueprint, Okta is establishing the industry standard for the secure agentic enterprise. We enable companies to discover shadow agents, secure connection points, and maintain the ultimate ‘kill switch’ to protect their enterprise from evolving risks.”
The announcement comes amid growing concerns around AI security risks. Recent developments show that advanced AI agents can now execute complex workflows, access systems, and interact across applications with minimal human intervention. Some agents are capable of operating directly on user machines, running commands, accessing files, and transferring data autonomously. These capabilities introduce new vulnerabilities, especially when agents are not properly governed or monitored.
Research indicates that while a majority of organizations have already encountered AI related security incidents, only a small percentage treat AI agents as independent identities within their security frameworks. This gap highlights the need for new identity and access management strategies tailored to non human, autonomous systems.
Okta for AI Agents addresses these challenges through a set of integrated capabilities. The platform allows organizations to identify and register AI agents as first class identities, providing visibility across both approved systems and unsanctioned shadow agents created by employees. Through integrations within the Okta Integration Network, organizations can connect to major AI platforms and manage agent identities centrally.
The platform also introduces tools to control how agents interact with enterprise systems. Features such as Agent Gateway provide a centralized control layer to manage access to applications, APIs, and databases, while privileged credential management ensures that sensitive credentials are securely stored and rotated. Additionally, API access management enforces least privilege principles based on identity, context, and risk.
A key component of the blueprint is the ability to control agent behavior in real time. Okta enables organizations to monitor agent activity, log interactions, and enforce policies dynamically. If an agent behaves unexpectedly or accesses sensitive data outside its intended scope, administrators can immediately revoke access across the enterprise environment using a universal logout capability.
Industry partners including Boomi and DataRobot are supporting the initiative by integrating their platforms with Okta’s AI agent framework, enabling organizations to deploy AI driven workflows with stronger governance and visibility.
“Securing the agentic enterprise will require industry-wide collaboration,” said Carl Siva, Chief Information Security Officer, Boomi. “By combining Boomi’s expertise in agentic connectivity and modern integration with Okta’s identity leadership, we are delivering a unified security and governance layer that helps organizations harden their security posture while maintaining auditable visibility into every agent’s actions. Together, Boomi’s Agentstudio and Agent Control Tower with Okta for AI Agents enable teams to build and deploy agents faster without compromising governed security controls.”
“If an AI agent has the power to act, it must have an identity. DataRobot has always been built for the enterprise that can’t afford to get AI wrong,” said Venky Veeraraghavan, Chief Product Officer, DataRobot. “This integration brings together the DataRobot Agent Workforce Platform and Okta for AI Agents, allowing our customers to build an agentic workforce with the rigorous identity standards that Okta is known for, and the confidence to scale from the lab to the front lines.”
As AI adoption accelerates, the concept of a secure agentic enterprise is becoming central to enterprise cybersecurity strategy. Okta’s blueprint reflects a broader industry shift toward treating AI agents as identity bearing entities that require the same level of control and governance as human users. By introducing structured visibility, access control, and real time response capabilities, the company aims to help organizations safely scale AI innovation while mitigating emerging risks.
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