Identity at the Center

Jeff and Jim open with the unavoidable topic of AI agents and the tension between enabling innovation and governing agent permissions, then run through a packed fall conference schedule. The August mailbag pulls questions from Singapore, Toronto, Prague, Johannesburg, Helsinki, and Seoul. They discuss when externalized authorization makes sense, why passkey recovery can become the weak link in phishing-resistant authentication, what EU digital identity wallets may mean for enterprises, how continuous access evaluation changes the meaning of terminating access, and how to build resilience around a centralized identity provider without creating a second full-scale IdP. The episode closes with a lighter question: if every IAM product needed a giant warning label, what should it say?

Connect with us on LinkedIn:

Jim McDonald: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jimmcdonaldpmp/

Jeff Steadman: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffsteadman/

Visit the show on the web at http://idacpodcast.com

00:10 - Welcome and have we talked about AI too much?
01:32 - Governing AI agents without becoming the progress prevention department
03:50 - Fall conference season and IDPro
04:40 - Cybersecurity Summits in Chicago and Atlanta
06:40 - SailPoint Navigate, InfoSec World, FIDO Authenticate, and Identiverse DC
10:40 - 3D printing, challenge coins, and superfan status
11:56 - August mailbag begins
12:19 - Singapore: Is externalized authorization ready for mainstream IAM?
20:30 - Toronto: Passkeys, account recovery, and help desk social engineering
25:55 - Prague: What should enterprises do about EU digital identity wallets?
31:44 - Johannesburg: Continuous session revocation and what “terminate access” really means
38:04 - Helsinki: Designing identity resilience around a centralized IdP
45:23 - Seoul: What warning label should every IAM product have?
48:26 - Wrap-up and how to send future mailbag questions

IDAC, Identity at the Center, Jeff Steadman, Jim McDonald, IAM, identity and access management, August 2026 mailbag, externalized authorization, authorization, policy-based access control, passkeys, account recovery, phishing-resistant authentication, identity verification, EU digital identity wallet, continuous access evaluation, shared signals, session revocation, token revocation, identity resilience, identity provider, disaster recovery, business continuity, AI agents, agentic identity, IDPro, FIDO Authenticate, Identiverse DC, InfoSec World, SailPoint Navigate

Jeff and Jim are joined by John Huyette, AI Risk Leader at RSM, and Omer Arshed, North American Digital Identity Leader at RSM, to explore how identity controls can help organizations manage the growing risks of AI agents. John introduces five laws for managing AI risk: governability, lineage and integrity, trust boundaries, authority containment, and human impact. The conversation connects those ideas to familiar IAM principles including ownership, auditability, zero trust, least privilege, just-in-time access, privileged access management, and continuous monitoring. They also discuss prompt injection, shadow AI, human accountability, and why organizations should start by building an honest inventory of the AI capabilities already operating in their environments.

5 Laws of AI Risk: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7487942457075257344/
Connect with John: https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-huyette-1373906/
Connect with Omer: https://www.linkedin.com/in/omerarshed/

Connect with us on LinkedIn:

Jim McDonald: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jimmcdonaldpmp/

Jeff Steadman: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffsteadman/

Visit the show on the web at http://idacpodcast.com

Timestamps

00:00 Introduction, 3D printing, and conference updates
06:58 Introducing John Huyette and Omer Arshed
07:52 John’s path from technology risk to AI risk
12:11 Omer’s identity origin story
13:43 The five laws for managing AI risk
18:00 What “ghosts in the machine” means for identity
20:17 Governability and ownership of AI identities
25:17 Do you know what has access to what?
29:43 Applying decades of IAM lessons to AI
32:35 Lineage and integrity
35:20 Building an AI bill of materials
37:12 Trust boundaries and external data
38:36 Prompt injection and untrusted content
42:48 Applying zero trust principles to AI agents
47:26 Authority containment
49:56 PAM, least privilege, and just-in-time agent access
56:22 Human impact and accountability
58:41 Is agentic AI really a new identity problem?
01:02:35 Starting with lower-risk AI use cases
01:04:21 Where organizations should start
01:05:07 Shadow AI and zombie accounts
01:07:09 What excuses would an AI give during an access review?
01:12:20 Wrap-up

Keywords

IDAC, Identity at the Center, Jeff Steadman, Jim McDonald, John Huyette, Omer Arshed, RSM, AI risk, AI agents, agentic AI, AI governance, governability, lineage and integrity, trust boundaries, authority containment, human impact, shadow AI, identity governance, IAM, zero trust, privileged access management, PAM, least privilege, just-in-time access, non-human identity, NHI, prompt injection, AI identity, access governance, continuous monitoring

Recorded live at Identiverse 2026 in Las Vegas on June 17, Jeff and Jim are joined by Bart Allan, General Manager at Bravura Security, for a live recording with a studio audience. In a late-night talk show format, the three host an open Q&A driven by IAM practitioners in the room. From securing AI identities to whether access reviews are headed the way of the password, this is an unscripted conversation driven by practitioners for practitioners. Topics include identity as a business enabler, zero standing privilege, agentic authentication, standards for AI agents, vendor relationships, the captive customer problem, community, and hiring IAM talent. Thanks to Bravura Security for supporting the Identity at the Center podcast.

Connect with Bart: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bartholomewallan/
Learn more about Bravura Security: http://bravurasecurity.com/idac

Connect with us on LinkedIn:
Jim McDonald: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jimmcdonaldpmp/
Jeff Steadman: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffsteadman/
Visit the show on the web at http://idacpodcast.com

00:00:00 Welcome and Introduction
00:03:00 AI Identities: Should IAM Teams Panic?
00:07:30 Identity as a Business Enabler vs. Cost Center
00:24:00 Continuous Identity and the Future of Access Reviews
00:35:00 Zero Standing Privilege and JIT Access
00:38:00 Standards for Agentic AI
00:46:00 Vendor Relationships and the Captive Customer Problem
00:55:56 Normalizing Rip and Replace
01:01:00 IDPro, Identity Beers, and Building Community
01:11:00 Agentic Authentication and Non-Human Identities
01:18:00 Hiring IAM Talent
01:26:00 Team Diversity and Multiple Perspectives
01:27:00 Closing

Identity at the Center, IDAC, Jeff Steadman, Jim McDonald, Bart Allan, Bravura Security, Identiverse 2026, Identiverse, IAM, identity and access management, identity security, AI identities, agentic identity, agentic authentication, non-human identities, NHI, access reviews, zero standing privilege, JIT access, continuous identity, IGA, vendor selection, identity community, IDPro, IdentiBeer, live podcast

Live from Identiverse 2026 in Las Vegas, Jeff and Jim sit down with Sachini Siriwardene, winner of this year's Kim Cameron Award, along with Ian Glazer of the Digital Identity Advancement Foundation (DIAF). Sachini shares how she moved from open banking API security into consumer identity work at a bank, and what led her to apply for the award named after identity pioneer Kim Cameron. Ian explains DIAF's mission to remove financial barriers to industry participation and previews the upcoming Vittorio Bertocci award for standards contributors. The conversation covers agentic AI and non-human identity governance, the AuthZen specification, continuous access management, and how practitioners can separate real AI capability from marketing hype. The group also swaps favorite hallway conversations from the show floor, including a discussion on extending the shared signals framework beyond RISC and CAPE, before wrapping with some very Vegas talk about the Sphere.Connect with Sachini: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sachini-siriwardene/Connect with Ian: https://www.linkedin.com/in/iglazer/Learn more about the Digital Identity Advancement Foundation: https://diaf.org/Connect with us on LinkedIn:Jim McDonald: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jimmcdonaldpmp/Jeff Steadman: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffsteadman/Visit the show on the web at http://idacpodcast.com00:00 - Cold open and conference banter01:35 - Jim's origin story with identity and Kim Cameron03:22 - Welcoming Sachini Siriwardene and Ian Glazer04:02 - Ian explains the Digital Identity Advancement Foundation05:54 - How Sachini got into identity through open banking08:46 - The moment identity clicked as mission critical09:47 - Agentic AI and non-human identity governance11:25 - Optimist or pessimist on AI and the job market14:45 - Applying for and winning the Kim Cameron Award15:41 - How DIAF selects award recipients17:21 - Standout sessions and the AuthZen specification18:36 - First impressions of Identiverse20:01 - Advice for future award applicants22:03 - Managing agentic identity in practice23:16 - Separating AI hype from real capability24:32 - Where the identity industry can improve27:08 - Acting fast without chasing hype28:05 - Favorite hallway conversations29:23 - Extending the shared signals framework30:39 - A D&D themed conference talk31:08 - Vegas talk and the Sphere experience34:19 - Wrap up and how to support DIAFIDAC, Identity at the Center, Jeff Steadman, Jim McDonald, Sachini Siriwardene, Ian Glazer, Identiverse 2026, Kim Cameron Award, Vittorio Bertocci Award, Digital Identity Advancement Foundation, DIAF, agentic AI, non-human identity, AuthZen, continuous access management, open banking, OAuth2, FAPI, shared signals framework

Recorded live at Identiverse 2026, Jeff and Jim sit down with returning guest Mike Kiser, Director of Strategy and Standards at SailPoint, for a wide-ranging conversation that spans two of the standards world's most active frontiers. The first half breaks down C2PA, the Coalition for Content Provenance and Authenticity, explaining how it differs from digital watermarking, how metadata and cryptographic signatures build a chain of custody for media, and why this work connects directly back to identity. The conversation then shifts to AI agents and the challenge of defining and governing intent, with Mike drawing an extended analogy to the early, under-regulated days of space exploration. The episode closes with reflections on the value of hallway conversations and community at Identiverse.

Connect with Mike: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mike-kiser/

Connect with us on LinkedIn:

Jim McDonald: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jimmcdonaldpmp/

Jeff Steadman: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffsteadman/

Visit the show on the web at http://idacpodcast.com

00:00 Introduction from Identiverse 2026
01:00 Mike previews his two Identiverse talks
01:35 What C2PA is and how chain of custody works
06:51 Watermarks versus C2PA explained
10:06 Why content provenance matters for identity
14:22 Is C2PA a standard or a working group
16:23 The SpaceX and space debris analogy for agent intent
20:13 Governing agent publishing without stifling innovation
22:00 Action Identification Theory and the how versus the why
27:47 Can an AI actually have intent
32:34 Why people humanize and fall in love with chatbots
38:37 The case for locking down intent early
39:39 Does intent change, or is it a new intent
46:19 Favorite hallway conversations at Identiverse
51:03 Wrap up and where to find Mike

IDAC, Identity at the Center, Jeff Steadman, Jim McDonald, Mike Kiser, SailPoint, C2PA, Content Provenance and Authenticity, Identiverse 2026, Shared Signals Framework, AI Agents, Agentic Identity, Digital Watermarking, Decentralized Identity Foundation, Intent-Based Access Control