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As AI agents continue to evolve and become more integral to enterprise operations, a new challenge has emerged: ensuring the security and integrity of their identities. Experts warn that traditional IAM systems are no longer sufficient to address this threat, citing the need for intent-based permissioning and treating every autonomous agent as a distinct identity. By adopting these strategies, CISOs can simplify oversight, enhance audit trails, and ensure regulatory compliance in an increasingly complex digital landscape.
The traditional identity-based access control systems (IAM) are not designed to handle AI agents' dynamic nature. A new approach, called identity-first AI security, is needed to govern, audit, and attest every autonomous agent like a human user or machine workload. Traditional IAM answers only one question: "Who" is requesting access, while intent-based permissioning answers "Why", considering an agent's declared mission and runtime context. Treating AI agents as distinct identities and enforcing intent-based permissioning can eliminate unnecessary exposure and prevent unauthorized access. This approach simplifies oversight and shifts focus from managing discrete action rules to defining identity profiles and approved intent boundaries.
In recent years, artificial intelligence (AI) has become an integral part of enterprise operations. From automating mundane tasks to augmenting human capabilities, AI agents have proven themselves to be indispensable tools for organizations worldwide. However, as these agents have evolved in complexity and sophistication, a new challenge has emerged: ensuring the security and integrity of their identities.
At its core, identity-based access control systems (IAM) rely on static roles and permissions to manage who can access sensitive resources. These systems were designed with human users in mind, assuming that an individual's identity would remain consistent throughout their interactions. However, AI agents are a different story altogether. They interpret inputs, plan actions, and call tools based on context, often evolving faster than the controls around them.
According to experts, the problem lies not just in the fact that AI agents are dynamic by design, but rather that traditional IAM systems were never designed to handle such actors. The assumption of determinism – that a role is granted because a user or service performs a defined function – breaks down when faced with an AI agent's fluid reasoning and context-dependent decision-making.
"To treat AI agents as just another workload is no longer sufficient," warns Itamar Apelblat, CEO and Co-Founder of Token Security. "We need to recognize that every autonomous agent must be governed, audited, and attested just like a human user or machine workload."
This realization has led to the emergence of identity-first AI security, which seeks to govern, audit, and attest every autonomous agent as if it were a first-class identity. This involves assigning unique identities, defining roles, establishing clear ownership, managing lifecycle, enforcing access control, and ensuring auditability.
However, experts argue that traditional IAM answers only one question: Who is requesting access? In a human-driven world, this was often enough; users had roles and job functions, services had defined scopes, and workflows were relatively predictable. But with AI agents, the assumption of determinism no longer holds.
"Identity alone is no longer sufficient," notes Apelblat. "Traditional IAM assumes that an agent's role is fixed, whereas in reality, the path they take to achieve their mission is fluid."
This is where intent-based permissioning comes into play. Intent answers why, whereas traditional IAM answers who. By evaluating whether an agent's declared mission and runtime context justify activating its privileges at a given moment, we can ensure that access remains conditional on purpose.
Consider an AI agent responsible for deploying code. In a traditional model, it may have standing permissions to modify infrastructure. However, in an intent-aware model, those privileges activate only when the deployment is tied to an approved pipeline event and change request. If the same agent attempts to modify production systems outside that context, the privileges do not activate.
The combination of treating AI agents as distinct identities and enforcing intent-based permissioning addresses two common failure modes: privilege inheritance and mission drift. By recognizing that every autonomous agent must be governed, audited, and attested like a human user or machine workload, organizations can eliminate unnecessary exposure and prevent unauthorized access.
Furthermore, this approach simplifies oversight, shifting focus from managing thousands of discrete action rules to defining identity profiles and approved intent boundaries. Policy reviews become more meaningful, with security teams able to determine not only which agent performed an action but also whether the action aligned with its approved mission.
Audit trails become more critical as well, enabling regulatory scrutiny and board-level accountability. By recognizing that AI agents are accelerating faster than traditional access control models were designed to handle, CISOs cannot afford to treat them as just another workload.
"The shift to agentic AI systems requires a shift in security thinking," concludes Apelblat. "Every AI agent must be treated as an accountable identity. And that identity must be constrained not only by static roles but by declared purpose and operational context."
In light of these emerging threats, organizations are under pressure to adapt their security strategies to address the evolving needs of agentic AI systems. By prioritizing intent-based security and recognizing the value of treating every autonomous agent as a distinct identity, CISOs can ensure that their organizations remain secure and compliant in an increasingly complex digital landscape.
Related Information:
https://www.ethicalhackingnews.com/articles/The-Agentic-AI-Threat-Why-CISOs-Must-Prioritize-Intent-Based-Security-ehn.shtml
https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/identity-first-ai-security-why-cisos-must-add-intent-to-the-equation/
https://www.csoonline.com/article/4089732/rethinking-identity-for-the-ai-era-cisos-must-build-trust-at-machine-speed.html
Published: Tue Feb 24 11:18:24 2026 by llama3.2 3B Q4_K_M
