Identity at the Center

Recorded live at EIC 2026 in Berlin, Jeff and Jim sit down with Thomas Zarnhofer, IAM Architect at a major retail company in central Europe. Thomas shares his experience leading a full IGA transformation from a decade-old on-premise system to a modern cloud-based platform. The conversation covers the shift from a contract-based to a person-based identity model, the importance of cleaning data before migration begins, a three-phase framework of Foundation, Migration, and Adoption, lessons learned from running two systems in parallel, and a look at how AI could make IGA predictive. The episode ends with Thomas's tips for visiting Austria.

Connect with Thomas: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tzarnhofer/

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 and EIC 2026 Setting

02:00 Thomas's Identity Origin Story

04:21 The Catalyst for IGA Modernization

07:43 Contract-Based vs Person-Based Identity Models

09:22 Consolidating Master Data Sources

11:39 Data Quality and Attribute Ownership

13:34 Partnering with HR for Clean Data

16:43 Data Analysis: Why They Chose Excel Over AI

17:53 Clean Your Data Before You Migrate

18:23 The Three Phases: Foundation, Migration, Adoption

20:12 Driving Adoption Across the Organization

21:10 Running Two Systems in Parallel

22:47 Challenge Everything vs Lift and Shift

27:23 Surprises in the Cloud IGA Journey

29:02 Testing Requirements in the Cloud

29:51 AI and the Future of IGA

32:25 AI Chatbots and Role Discovery

35:30 Scoping Business Role Visibility

36:06 Life Outside IAM: Travel and Austria Tips

Keywords:

IAM, IGA, Identity Governance, IGA Migration, On-Premises to Cloud, Identity Model, Contract-Based Identity, Person-Based Identity, Master Data, Data Quality, HR Integration, Joiner Mover Leaver, Cloud IGA, Retail IAM, EIC 2026, AI in IGA, Predictive IGA, Role Management, Access Governance, IDAC, Identity at the Center, Jeff Steadman, Jim McDonald, Thomas Zarnhofer

Jeff and Jim are joined by Heather Flanagan, Content Chair, and Andi Hindle, Conference Chair, for a full preview of Identiverse 2026 at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. They cover the 2026 theme of trust and change, why AI was removed as a standalone track and redistributed across all content areas, the provocative argument that non-human access now dramatically outpaces human access and is reshaping identity system design, whether authentication is truly solved, authorization as the harder unsolved problem, CFP surprises, networking events including Women at Identiverse, and predictions for 2027. Save 30% with code IDV26-IDAC30%. New IDPro members save $25 at idpro.org/idac.

Connect with Heather: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hlflanagan/

Connect with Andi: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ahindle/

Identiverse 2026: https://events.identiverse.com/2026/begin?code=IDV26-IDAC30%25

Heather's IAM Conference List: https://github.com/fedidcg/meetings/wiki/2026-List-of-Identity-and-Related-Conferences-and-Standards-Development-Events

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

00:00:00 Introduction and SolarWinds breach banter

00:03:27 Identiverse preview and discount codes

00:06:10 Guest introductions

00:06:52 Role of Content Chair

00:08:46 Role of Conference Chair

00:11:16 2026 conference theme

00:15:00 AI as context, not a standalone track

00:16:32 Control plane vs enablement plane debate

00:22:19 What the industry is underestimating

00:24:00 Non-human access outpaces human access

00:26:52 Is authentication solved? Passkeys

00:30:31 Authorization: far from solved

00:36:04 Extensibility in standards and deployments

00:38:22 CFP surprises: fraud and identity proofing

00:41:48 Usability and UX gaps

00:43:18 Agentic AI: identity or governance?

00:47:55 Networking and newcomer programming

00:51:45 Women at Identiverse

00:52:46 AI-generated CFP submissions

00:55:00 Predictions for Identiverse 2027

00:58:04 Theme songs for Identiverse 2026

01:02:58 Heather's identity conference list on GitHub

01:04:47 Swag culture at identity conferences

01:12:25 Wrap-up

KEYWORDS

Identiverse 2026, Heather Flanagan, Andi Hindle, identity conference, NHI, non-human identity, agentic AI, passkeys, authentication, authorization, IAM, IDAC, Identity at the Center, Jeff Steadman, Jim McDonald, digital identity, continuous identity architecture, zero standing privilege, verifiable credentials, identity governance

This episode and the Identity at the Center podcast is supported by CrowdStrike. Learn more at crowdstrike.com.

Jeff Steadman and Jim McDonald sit down with Scott Kriz, GM of Continuous Identity at CrowdStrike, for a deep dive into continuous identity, zero standing access, and the convergence of identity and security. Scott traces his path from co-founding Bitium, to selling it to Google Cloud, to building SGNL and ultimately joining CrowdStrike. The conversation covers how continuous identity works in practice, why traditional PAM and IGA fall short in a real-time world, and what the rise of agentic AI means for identity governance at scale.

Connect with Scott: https://www.linkedin.com/in/scottkriz/

Learn more about Crowdstrike: https://www.crowdstrike.com/en-us/platform/next-gen-identity-security/caep/?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 Introduction and welcome

00:01:21 How Scott got into identity and co-founded Bitium

00:03:55 Selling to Google Cloud and the inspiration for SGNL

00:05:02 Continuous identity and zero standing access explained

00:09:13 Defining continuous identity at CrowdStrike

00:10:20 How continuous identity differs from PAM and IGA

00:15:06 Data as the foundation for continuous identity

00:19:29 Open ecosystems, Shared Signals Framework, and CAEP

00:25:26 Agents, identity chaining, SPIFFE, SPIRE, and MCP gateways

00:33:02 Identity inside CrowdStrike's broader security strategy

00:37:27 Identity security budgets and ROI-driven purchasing

00:40:04 Agentic scale and the need for automated identity controls

00:43:39 The SGNL acquisition: what it means for both companies

00:50:25 Zero trust as a real architectural framework

00:54:00 Helicopter skiing, avalanches, and staying present

Keywords: IDAC, Identity at the Center, Jeff Steadman, Jim McDonald, Scott Kriz, CrowdStrike, SGNL, continuous identity, zero standing access, PAM, IGA, zero trust, agentic AI, non-human identity, NHI, SPIFFE, SPIRE, MCP, identity security, real-time authorization, cybersecurity

Jeff and Jim recap their week at KuppingerCole's EIC 2026 in Berlin, covering standout keynotes, hallway conversations, and sessions on securing AI agents, CIAM, and AI versus nuclear regulation. They announce a giveaway of Eve Maler's signed copy of Mastering Digital Identity for YouTube commenters by June 12th. The episode also features live footage and a full interview with Espen Bago, founder of IdentiBeer, recorded at the Berlin event. Jeff, Jim, and Espen discuss the rapid global growth of the IdentiBeer community, terminology challenges around NHI and IAM concepts, the gap between conference talk and real client needs, and why the industry keeps bypassing foundational data work in the rush toward AI and agentic identity.

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

00:00:10 Welcome and EIC 2026 Setup

00:03:57 Eve Maler Book Giveaway Details

00:05:00 Conference Highlights: Keynotes and Hallway Con

00:06:07 Elizabeth Garber's Standing Ovation Keynote

00:07:02 Brazil Invitation and Securing AI Agents

00:09:10 Nuclear Regulation vs. AI Regulation

00:11:07 Upcoming EIC Episode Preview

00:14:16 IdentiBeer Berlin Live Event

00:14:29 Interview with Espen Bago Begins

00:15:14 IdentiBeer Growth and Global Expansion

00:17:23 The IdentiBeer Name Debate

00:23:26 Data Quality Gaps in NHI and IAM

00:26:31 Who Owns IAM Terminology?

00:34:20 Conference Talk vs. Client Reality

00:40:52 The HR-IAM Gap Nobody Talks About

00:43:17 Fundamentals: The Karate Kid Analogy

Keywords: EIC 2026, European Identity Conference, IdentiBeer, Espen Bago, Eve Maler, Elizabeth Garber, Mastering Digital Identity, Berlin, Identiverse, NHI, non-human identities, IAM fundamentals, AI regulation, agentic identity, IGA, PAM, CIAM, IDPro, identity community, IDAC, Identity at the Center, Jeff Steadman, Jim McDonald

Jeff and Jim are back with the May 2026 mailbag, answering listener questions from Amsterdam, Mumbai, Austin, and Berlin. Topics include navigating IAM vendor acquisitions, defending against AI deepfakes in remote onboarding, governing contractor and third-party identities, fixing the leaver process in IGA, and tackling a decade of IAM technical debt. The episode closes with unpopular industry opinions: why RFPs are procurement theater, why rip and replace should be normalized, and why one-throat-to-choke vendor thinking usually backfires.

IDPro new member discount: https://idpro.org/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

CHAPTER TIMESTAMPS

00:00 Intro and SNL nostalgia

03:25 AI model roundup: ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and usage limits

10:16 Identiverse 2026 and IDPro member discount

14:53 Q1: Navigating vendor acquisitions (Isabelle, Amsterdam)

24:00 Q2: AI deepfakes in identity verification (Rajan, Mumbai)

32:32 Q3: Contractor and third-party identity governance (Caleb, Austin)

43:00 Q4: The leaver process and IGA scope gaps (Anonymous)

51:10 Q5: Tackling IAM technical debt (Tomas, Berlin)

57:00 Normalizing rip and replace

01:01:00 RFPs, one throat to choke, and other hot takes

01:08:00 Wrap-up

KEYWORDS

IAM, identity governance, IGA, vendor consolidation, acquisitions, deepfakes, identity verification, contractor management, non-employee identity, technical debt, rip and replace, RFP, joiner mover leaver, leaver process, Identiverse 2026, IDPro, IDAC, Identity at the Center, Jeff Steadman, Jim McDonald

Jeff and Jim welcome back Robert Snodgrass, Principal at RSM, for a deep dive into the RSM Middle Market Business Index cybersecurity report. The conversation covers the confidence gap facing middle market organizations, why digital identity remains undervalued despite being the primary attack surface, non-human identity governance, flat cybersecurity budgets, risk framework adoption, and what good incident response preparedness actually looks like. The episode wraps with a spirited Bitcoin Pizza Day toppings debate.

Connect with Robert: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robert-snodgrass-7a199412/

Review the RSM US Middle Market Business Index Special Report on Cybersecurity 2026: https://rsmus.com/middle-market/cybersecurity-mmbi.html?cmpid=ola:45559-idac:bb01

IDPro new member discount: https://idpro.org/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

TIMESTAMPS

00:00:00 Introduction and Scatter Spider social engineering discussion

00:04:00 IDPro discount code and upcoming conferences

00:06:26 Guest intro: Robert Snodgrass and the MMBI report

00:09:05 Defining the modern middle market

00:12:00 The confidence gap: 96% confident, 18% breached

00:15:04 Why attackers log in and top identity investment priorities

00:19:00 Why only 23% of leaders prioritize digital identity

00:22:00 Internal partnerships as the path to identity program success

00:25:10 AI, shadow AI, and non-human identity risks

00:31:00 NHI governance at scale: 45 to 1 ratio

00:34:50 Cybersecurity budget realities in the middle market

00:39:00 EU regulation and top-line cybersecurity drivers

00:42:03 NIST CSF adoption and risk framework value

00:46:00 Incident response planning: the two-minute drill

00:52:16 Bitcoin Pizza Day and closing thoughts

KEYWORDS

identity security, middle market, cybersecurity, MMBI, RSM, Robert Snodgrass, phishing-resistant MFA, non-human identities, NHI, shadow AI, incident response, NIST CSF, IAM, identity governance, ransomware, tabletop exercises, digital identity, cybersecurity budget, identity program, IDAC, Identity at the Center, Jeff Steadman, Jim McDonald

Episode 422 is the debut of Decoded by Identity at the Center, a new sub-series hosted by Jeff Steadman and Sean O'Dell dedicated to unpacking the specifications and standards powering IAM. Joining them is Pieter Kasselman, VP of Open Standards at Defakto and chair of the WIMSE working group. The conversation covers why traditional non-human identity approaches break at agentic scale, how SPIFFE and SPIRE enable short-lived automated credential provisioning without long-lived secrets, and why treating agents as workloads unlocks a decade of existing standards. Pieter walks through critical OAuth specs including JWT authorization grant, token exchange, client ID metadata, and the emerging transaction tokens draft. Sean connects these to practical gateway architecture, continuous access evaluation, and policy-based authorization. The episode closes with real-world deployment examples and a clear takeaway: the tools to secure agentic identity are available today.

Episode Links:Pieter Kasselman: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pieter-kasselman-0259862/AI Agent Authentication and Authorization: https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/draft-klrc-aiagent-auth/Workload Identity in Multi-system environments (WIMSE): https://ietf-wg-wimse.github.io/OAuth SPIFFE Client Authentication: https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/draft-ietf-oauth-spiffe-client-auth/Transaction Tokens: https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/draft-ietf-oauth-transaction-tokens/08/Agentic Identity Control Framework. You Already Have the Pieces. Now Build It. by Sean O'Dell: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/agentic-identity-control-framework-you-already-have-pieces-o-dell-61b5e/

Timestamps:

00:00 Introduction to Decoded by Identity at the Center

00:13 The mission of the Decoded sub-series

03:02 Guest intro: Pieter Kasselman, VP of Open Standards at Defakto

06:21 Why agentic identity is urgent: scale, multi-platform, and shifting threat landscape

10:42 The real cost of API keys and credential sprawl in agentic systems

13:23 Agentic identity identifiers and how SPIFFE assigns unique workload IDs

21:00 Credential types: X.509, JWTs, and workload identity tokens

31:00 Connecting SPIFFE to OAuth and dynamic registration with client ID metadata

38:18 SPIFFE SVIDs, multiple credentials per agent, and governance traceability

41:44 Authentication versus authorization: delegation versus impersonation

47:00 Transaction tokens: binding access to specific transactions to stop token theft

51:21 Identity chaining and cross-domain authorization

55:00 Shared Signals Framework and dynamic authorization

57:00 Gateways, CAEP, and mid-flight token revocation for rogue agents

59:31 What you can deploy today with SPIFFE, OAuth, and existing IDPs

01:02:58 Policy-based access control and why instance-level governance cannot scale

01:04:58 Workload identity federation: Anthropic and Google Agent ID updates

01:07:13 Cross-platform federation and the law of agentic utility

01:11:55 Elevator pitch: agents are workloads and 95% of the problem is solved now

01:17:03 What is coming next: a transaction tokens deep dive

Keywords:

agentic identity, SPIFFE, SPIRE, OAuth, transaction tokens, Shared Signals Framework, WIMSE, workload identity, non-human identity, authorization delegation, JWT, CAEP, API gateway, IAM standards, AIMS, Jeff Steadman, Sean O'Dell, Pieter Kasselman, IDAC, Identity at the Center, Jim McDonald, Decoded by Identity at the Center

Decoded by Identity at the Center:

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

Sean O'Dell: https://www.linkedin.com/in/seanodentity/

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

Visit the show on the web at https://idacdecoded.com/

Jeff and Jim welcome back Henrique Teixeira, SVP of Strategy at Saviynt, for his fourth appearance on the podcast. The episode opens with Jim's firsthand experience building an AI agent for a work project and discovering in real time how identity management challenges surface in the agentic era. After conference updates on EIC in Berlin and Identiverse in Las Vegas, Henrique unpacks the crowded terminology around AI agent governance, from Gartner's agent management platforms to UADP, the Unified Agentic Defense Platform. He proposes a three-pillar framework for managing AI and non-human identities: discovery, identity lifecycle and governance, and runtime access management, with guidance on where to start depending on whether your organization is greenfield or legacy-heavy. The conversation then examines how AI is reshaping the analyst business model, what makes information sources trustworthy, and how proprietary inquiry data forms the real competitive moat for firms like Gartner and Forrester. The episode closes with a wide-ranging discussion on AI's risk to shared cultural experiences, hyper-personalized entertainment, and the ethics of licensing your digital identity in the afterlife.

Connect with Henrique: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bernardes/

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 Intro

00:00:55 Jim's AI Agent Experiment and Identity Lessons

00:06:04 Conference News: EIC and Identiverse

00:07:22 Identity Beer Community Events

00:08:40 Introducing Henrique Teixeira

00:12:00 AI Control Plane: Competing Terminologies

00:17:36 Three Pillars of AI Agent Identity Management

00:18:46 Why Visibility Matters More for NHI

00:20:00 Ownership, Accountability, and Humans at the Control Plane

00:24:26 Industry Maturity and the Gaps That Remain

00:25:41 Where to Start: Governance-First vs. Visibility-First

00:29:52 AI's Impact on the Analyst Profession

00:34:57 What Analyst Firms Have That AI Cannot Replace

00:39:04 Trust, Boutique Analysts, and Repeatability

00:44:34 Proprietary AI Chatbots and Gated Intelligence

00:49:30 IP Rights and the Legal Gray Zone of AI Training

00:52:14 AI and the Erosion of Shared Cultural Experience

00:58:00 AI Music, Personalized Entertainment, and the Future of Art

01:03:47 Digital Afterlife, Voice Clones, and AI Personas

01:08:18 Wrap-Up and Closing

Keywords: IDAC, Identity at the Center, Jeff Steadman, Jim McDonald, Henrique Teixeira, Saviynt, AI identity control plane, non-human identities, NHI, agentic AI, AI agents, AI governance, identity lifecycle, access management, discovery, agent management platform, UADP, IAM, Gartner, analyst firms, AI and culture, digital identity, identity security, EIC, Identiverse, identity beer

This episode is made possible by GitGuardian. Jeff speaks with Dwayne McDaniel, Principal Developer Advocate at GitGuardian, about secrets sprawl, non-human identity governance, and the findings of the State of Secret Sprawl 2026 report. With 28.6 million secrets leaked to public GitHub in 2025 - a 34% year-over-year increase - they explore why hardcoded credentials persist, how agentic AI tools are making the problem worse, and what IAM practitioners can do to start addressing machine identity governance. Topics include GitGuardian's Good Samaritan notification program, the growing NHI inventory challenge, SPIFFE and SPIRE as a path to zero standing privilege, and data showing Claude Code co-authored commits are more than twice as likely to contain leaked secrets. Visit gitguardian.com/lps/idac to learn more.

Connect with Dwayne: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dwaynemcdaniel/

Dwayne's website: https://dwayne-mcdaniel.com/

Learn more about GitGuardian: https://www.gitguardian.com/lps/idac

GitGuardian Good Samaritan Program (free) - https://www.gitguardian.com/good-samaritan

The State of Secrets Sprawl 2026: https://www.gitguardian.com/state-of-secrets-sprawl-report-2026

SPIFFE Book: https://spiffe.io/book/

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 and sponsor welcome

00:48 Dwayne's background and path to developer advocacy

04:11 Surprises from entering the identity and security space

06:29 What a principal developer advocate actually does

09:32 Why secrets became Dwayne's focus area

14:10 GitGuardian: overview and mission

19:36 Where secrets commonly leak across the SDLC

22:17 The Good Samaritan notification program explained

28:00 Why 70% of leaked secrets from 2022 were still valid in 2025

33:54 State of Secret Sprawl 2026: the year software changed

40:39 AI coding tools, Claude Code, and secrets leakage data

47:28 Practical questions for IAM practitioners to start asking

52:24 Zero standing privilege and the case for SPIFFE/SPIRE

01:00:00 Resources: the SPIFFE book, WIMSE, and AWS STS

01:02:51 Hot sauce, the Cubs, and closing thoughts

KEYWORDS:

secrets sprawl, hardcoded secrets, non-human identity, NHI governance, GitGuardian, SPIFFE, SPIRE, workload identity, DevSecOps, agentic AI, Claude Code, zero standing privilege, supply chain security, credential abuse, identity and access management, IAM, IDAC, Identity at the Center, Jeff Steadman, Jim McDonald, Dwayne McDaniel

Recorded live as part of the Identity Management Day 2026 streaming program, Jeff and Jim mark their fifth IMD episode. Introduced by Jeff Reich from the Identity Defined Security Alliance, they reflect on how the IAM industry has evolved since their first IMD episode in 2021 and grade overall progress a C. Topics include what has genuinely improved (passkeys, MFA adoption, broader awareness), what hasn't (compliance fatigue, security theater, persistent credential theft), the exploding challenge of non-human identity governance, whether AI will eventually need to certify other AI, and how AI-powered phishing and deep fakes are raising the bar for identity verification. The episode wraps with chat-submitted IAM bumper stickers.

Identity Management Day 2026: https://www.idsalliance.org/event/identity-management-day-2026/

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

CHAPTERS

0:00 - Jeff Reich intro from the IMD stream

2:00 - Identity Management Day 2026 kicks off

3:30 - Five years of IMD: a look back at episode 88

7:00 - Does IMD move the needle?

9:30 - Who is Identity Management Day actually for?

12:00 - What has improved in IAM over five years

16:00 - What hasn't improved: compliance fatigue and security theater

18:30 - Grading the IAM industry

21:00 - NHI governance: visibility and accountability

26:00 - Can AI certify AI? Agentic identity governance

29:00 - AI-powered phishing and the evolving threat landscape

32:00 - Deep fakes and the identity verification challenge

36:00 - Lighter note: IAM bumper stickers

KEYWORDS

identity management day, identity management day 2026, NHI, non-human identity, agentic AI, phishing, deep fakes, IGA, passkeys, MFA, IAM, identity governance, access management, cybersecurity, credential theft, security awareness, IDAC, Identity at the Center, Jeff Steadman, Jim McDonald