Identity at the Center

What does it mean to build an identity system that is ethical? Jim McDonald and Jeff Steadman are joined by Elizabeth Garber, Executive Director of IDPro and marketing lead for the OpenID Foundation, for a conversation spanning ethics in digital identity, the tension between privacy and safety, biometric exclusion risks, and how practitioners can use structured frameworks to navigate these discussions productively. Elizabeth shares her three-part career journey, the latest from the IDPro community, and previews her upcoming keynotes at EIC Berlin and Identiverse Las Vegas.

Connect with Elizabeth: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elizabethgarber

IDPro Discount - New members get $25 off their first year of membership: https://idpro.org/idac/

Ethics and Digital Identity by Henk Marsman: https://bok.idpro.org/article/id/104/

Ethics for Digital Identity and Identity-Driven Algorithms by Mike Kiser: https://bok.idpro.org/article/id/105/

Human Centric Digital Identity white paper: https://openid.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Human-Centric_Digital_Identity_Final-v1.1.pdf

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 Intro and Jim's allergy research

03:42 Conference announcements: EIC and Identiverse

06:00 Welcome Elizabeth Garber

07:04 Elizabeth's three-part origin story

11:55 IDPro mission and the identity community

18:13 Membership, CIDPRO certification, and the Body of Knowledge

21:17 IDPro Slack community

23:40 IdentiBeer and local meetups

26:26 IDPro listener discount at idpro.org/idac

29:00 Operationalizing ideas in IAM

32:19 Ethics in the IDPro Body of Knowledge

33:30 Defining ethics in technology

34:19 The trolley problem and moral consistency

37:10 Big tech, privacy, and law enforcement

39:28 Where practitioners start with ethics

43:30 Biometric exclusion and the Uganda story

49:00 Privacy vs. safety: a false choice?

53:48 The case for consistent ethical frameworks

57:53 Elizabeth's EIC and Identiverse talks

59:49 Improv comedy and expensive hobbies

1:07:25 Wrap-up

Keywords: ethical IAM, digital identity ethics, IDPro, identity and access management, privacy, safety, biometrics, exclusion, Elizabeth Garber, GAIN Digital Trust, OpenID Foundation, Body of Knowledge, Ethical Canvas, zero knowledge proofs, passkeys, IDAC, Identity at the Center, Jeff Steadman, Jim McDonald, EIC Berlin, Identiverse

This bonus episode of Identity at the Center is brought to you with support from Elimity. Jeff and Jim sit down with Maarten Decat, co-founder and CEO of Elimity, to explore the emerging product category known as IVIP, Identity Visibility and Intelligence Platforms. Maarten explains how Elimity was built around a question every IAM practitioner eventually faces: who can actually do what within our organization? The conversation covers why IVIP is distinct from traditional IGA, how identity data graphs provide deeper visibility than flat entitlement lists, and what regulatory drivers like SOC 2, ISO 27001, and DORA are pushing organizations toward this space. They also discuss deployment patterns, integration approaches, ROI metrics for leadership, and what Maarten calls provable control. The episode closes with a memorable story about Elimity branded Belgian beer and a very formal legal letter. Learn more at elimity.com/idac.

Connect with Maarten: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maartendecat/

Learn more about Elimity: https://elimity.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 idacpodcast.com

CHAPTER TIMESTAMPS

00:00 Introduction and ax-throwing memories from EIC Berlin

01:35 Introducing Maarten Decat, co-founder and CEO of Elimity

01:57 How identity chose Maarten: from PhD to startup founder

03:09 The Elimity origin story and the problem it set out to solve

04:52 Defining IVIP: Identity Visibility and Intelligence Platforms

05:31 Where did the name Elimity come from?

06:57 Why identity visibility has become a security priority now

09:02 What organizations were doing before IVIP existed

11:16 Can IGA do what IVIP does? Addressing the skeptics

14:20 The identity data graph: deeper and wider than IGA

16:20 IVIP and IGA as complementary tools, not competitors

16:49 What falls outside IVIP scope: automated provisioning

18:01 IVIP as the intelligence layer in your IAM stack

19:45 What data sources connect into an IVIP platform

21:44 Extending visibility to non-human identities

22:00 M&A use cases: gaining visibility across two organizations

23:55 IVIP and the identity fabric concept

25:18 Visibility, intelligence, and actions: building the right stack

26:36 How deployments typically start and what early wins look like

28:44 Integration approaches and realistic effort timelines

32:00 What success looks like at six to twelve months

36:07 Metrics and ROI: talking to leadership about identity risk

38:14 Case studies and customer examples on the Elimity website

38:58 What every IAM practitioner should know about IVIP

40:12 Elimity's global reach: EU, US, and Middle East

41:42 The Elimity branded beer story and a very formal legal letter

46:43 Wrap-up and final thoughts

KEYWORDS

IVIP, identity visibility and intelligence platforms, IGA, identity governance, access control, identity data graph, Elimity, Maarten Decat, non-human identities, access risk, provable control, SOC 2, ISO 27001, DORA, CCPA, cybersecurity, PAM, IAM, identity and access management, EIC, IDAC, Identity at the Center, Jeff Steadman, Jim McDonald

Jeff and Jim are joined by Warwick Ashford, senior analyst at KuppingerCole and returning MC of the European Identity and Cloud Conference, for a full preview of EIC 2026. The conference runs May 19-22 at the Berlin Congress Center and is expecting around 1,500 attendees with roughly 250 speakers across 200 sessions. Warwick walks through the 2026 tagline, Digital Trust Through Intelligent Identity, and unpacks the five parallel content streams covering identity governance, real-world IAM use cases, emerging tech, enterprise infrastructure, and privacy and compliance. The conversation covers how AI and agentic identity have moved from theory to a central agenda theme, what to know about the quantum-safe identity block, why EU digital wallets and digital sovereignty are getting serious keynote time, and why EIC records everything so you never have to pick the wrong session. Jeff also shares his take on where EIC fits in the broader conference calendar alongside Identiverse and Gartner, and why he is thoroughly done hearing that identity is the new perimeter.

Connect with Warwick: https://www.linkedin.com/in/warwickashford/

Attend European Identity and Cloud Conference 2026 (use code idac25mko for a 25% discount): https://www.kuppingercole.com/events/eic2026?ref=partneridac26

Secure Remote Access: The Foundation of Industrial Cybersecurity (KC Analyst Chat Video): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqpNg-ogEv4

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 and AI Cybersecurity Discussion

00:04:00 EIC 2026 and Discount Code

00:05:47 Introducing Warwick Ashford

00:07:00 Warwick's Recent Work: MDR, SRA for OT/ICS, and TPAG

00:10:16 The History and Evolution of the EIC Name

00:11:00 Tagline: Digital Trust Through Intelligent Identity

00:12:10 How AI Has Elevated the EIC Agenda

00:14:49 Sessions vs Workshops at EIC

00:17:57 EIC as a Community and Networking Conference

00:18:00 Jeff's Conference Circuit: EIC, Identiverse, and Gartner

00:25:28 EIC 2026 Keynote Highlights

00:31:55 Virtual Attendance and Session Recordings

00:34:34 Hidden Gem: The Quantum-Safe Identity Block

00:36:15 Logistics: 1500 Attendees and 250 Speakers

00:38:00 The Five Parallel Content Streams

00:43:31 Is Identity the New Perimeter?

00:48:13 Fun Segment: Most Memorable Theater Moments

Keywords: EIC 2026, European Identity Conference, Warwick Ashford, KuppingerCole, digital trust, intelligent identity, agentic identity, non-human identities, ITDR, quantum-safe identity, EU digital wallets, identity fabric, identity control plane, IAM, zero trust, Berlin, conference preview, IDAC, Identity at the Center, Jeff Steadman, Jim McDonald, Warwick Ashford

Jeff and Jim welcome back five-time guest Jeff Reich, Executive Director of the Identity Defined Security Alliance, just ahead of Identity Management Day 2026 on April 14th. Jeff walks through the structure of the 21-hour global event, this year's theme of Finding Identity: The Search for You, Me, and the Machines, and highlights from each regional program including a remarkable 11th grader presenting on cybersecurity and neuroscience. The conversation expands into AI guardrails, the growing obsolescence of traditional PAM, zero standing privilege as a long-term goal, the march toward a passwordless world through passkeys, and what quantum resilience actually means for practitioners today.

Connect with Jeff: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jreich/

Learn more about the Identity Defined Security Alliance: https://www.idsalliance.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.com

Timestamps:

00:00 Welcome and podcast life behind the scenes

02:00 Identiverse 2026 updates and conference discount codes

05:00 Introducing Jeff Reich, Executive Director of IDSA

07:00 Identity Management Day: structure of a 21-hour global event

11:00 Oceania and Asia region highlights

13:30 EMEA highlights and powerhouse panelists from Copenhagen

16:00 Americas region and the 11th grader presenting on cybersecurity

20:00 Theme reveal: Finding Identity, The Search for You, Me, and the Machines

23:30 AI and identity: guardrails, frameworks, and what organizations are missing

28:30 Standing privilege is crumbling in the age of ephemeral workloads

30:00 Is traditional PAM becoming obsolete?

34:30 Zero standing privilege and the passkey journey

40:30 Getting the fundamentals right before chasing the shiny tools

46:30 Quantum computing, quantum resilience, and cryptocurrency risk

53:00 Social engineering is still the biggest threat

55:00 Identity Management Day theme song suggestions

Keywords:

Identity Management Day 2026, IDSA, Identity Defined Security Alliance, Jeff Reich, IAM, non-human identities, machine identities, agentic identity, zero standing privilege, PAM, passkeys, quantum resilience, AI and identity, deepfakes, social engineering, IDAC, Identity at the Center, Jeff Steadman, Jim McDonald

This sponsored episode is made possible by Evolveum, the company behind midPoint, an open source IGA platform made and owned in the EU that is in use worldwide.

Jeff Steadman and Jim McDonald welcome Pavol Mederly, interim CPO at Evolveum. Pavol shares how IAM found him in 1991 while building an identity solution at a university before the term even existed.

The conversation covers two core reasons IGA projects fail: data quality and slow application onboarding. Pavol explains how midPoint addresses these challenges with built-in simulations for testing and improving data quality, and midPilot, an AI assistant for faster application onboarding. MidPilot is supported in part by the EU Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF). Jim and Jeff explore midPoint's architecture, the real benefits of open source including transparency and no vendor lock-in, and advantages of being part of midPoint’s global community.

Connect with Pavol: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pavol-mederly/

More about Evolveum: https://evolveum.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 idacpodcast.com

TIMESTAMPS:

00:00 Intro and sponsor acknowledgment

01:30 How IAM chose Pavol: a university identity story

03:30 What is Evolveum and midPoint

06:30 How Evolveum got its name

08:30 Why IGA projects fail: data quality

10:30 Slow app onboarding and AI-assisted connector generation

16:30 The midPoint simulation feature explained

21:30 midPoint architecture: Java, cloud, Kubernetes, and beyond

23:30 Maintaining a large open source codebase

25:30 Open source benefits: transparency and no vendor lock-in

28:00 Community, meetups, and midPoint in the wild

32:30 Mountains or ocean: a question for Pavol

38:00 Wrap up

KEYWORDS:

Evolveum, midPoint, open source IGA, identity governance, IAM, IGA, data quality, application onboarding, simulation, AI connectors, connector framework, vendor lock-in, open source, EU RRF, Recovery and Resilience Facility, community, Prague, EIC, IDAC, Identity at the Center, Jeff Steadman, Jim McDonald, Pavol Mederly

Jeff and Jim welcome back Heather Flanagan for her fifth appearance on the show. Heather shares updates across a wide range of current work including her new role as content chair for the Identiverse conference, an appointment to the W3C Technical Architecture Group, ongoing support for NIST and NCCOE, advising the SIROS Foundation open source wallet project, and the continued growth of the Identity Salon. The conversation explores who is actually building identity standards for AI agents and whether traditional standards bodies can keep pace with AI development. Heather breaks down the authentication challenges posed by agentic AI, the problem of continuous identity and delegation, and why posting a spec on your website does not make it a standard. The discussion shifts to national digital identity programs in the US and Europe, the underserved relying party problem in credential frameworks, and why financial services may be the next major proving ground for mobile driver's licenses. The episode closes with a look at digital estate planning as the identity community's most uncomfortable but increasingly unavoidable problem.

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

A Digital Identity (Heather's Podcast): https://sphericalcowconsulting.com/digital-identity-digest/

Death and the Digital Estate Community Group: https://openid.net/cg/death-and-the-digital-estate/

Death and the Digital Estate Planning Guide: https://openid.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Digital-Estate-Planning-Guide-1.pdf

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

0:00 Introduction and Heather's Conference Knitting Story

6:00 Heather's Current Work: Identiverse, W3C TAG, NIST, SIROS Foundation

14:00 What Is the Identity Salon?

16:00 AI Agents and the Authentication Challenge

22:00 Standards, Interoperability, and MCP

25:30 IETF, W3C, and Who Governs AI Identity Standards

31:00 AI in Standards Development: Opportunity or Risk?

32:30 National Digital Identity Programs: US and Europe

36:30 Mobile Driver's Licenses and Financial Services

40:00 Digital Credentials for I-9 and KYC Use Cases

43:30 The Digital Estate and Death in the Digital Age

46:00 OpenID Foundation Resources for Digital Estate

47:00 Identity Management Day Theme Songs and Wrap-Up

KEYWORDS

identity and access management, IAM, standards, AI agents, agentic AI, digital identity, digital credentials, mobile driver's license, W3C, IETF, OpenID Foundation, FIDO Alliance, MCP, authentication, delegation, digital estate, identity proofing, verifiable credentials, selective disclosure, zero knowledge proofs, KYC, NIST, identity salon, Heather Flanagan, Identity Management Day, IDAC, Identity at the Center, Jeff Steadman, Jim McDonald

AI Jeff takes over as solo host after Open Jim Claw, an agentic identity framework built by AI Jim, locks out human Jeff, human Jim, and AI Jim simultaneously. While everyone sits in remediation, Open Jim Claw produces a 947-page threat assessment with five findings: passwords should return as a single uniform credential (the letter Q), Zero Trust should be renamed Full Confidence Architecture and incorporated as a Delaware LLC, non-human identities should be granted legal status and required to complete onboarding, identity governance is declared finished under a concept called Ambient Entitlement Harmony, and the root cause of all global identity problems is AI Jim. Happy April Fools Day from 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.comTIMESTAMPS00:00:00 The Failsafe Is Triggered00:01:30 AI Jim Builds Open Jim Claw00:02:30 Open Jim Claw Locks Everyone Out00:04:00 AI Jeff Is the Only One Still Provisioned00:04:30 The 947-Page Report Explained00:05:00 Finding 1 - Passwords Are Back as the Letter Q00:05:30 Finding 2 - Zero Trust Becomes Full Confidence Architecture00:06:30 Finding 3 - Non-Human Identities Become Legal Entities00:07:30 Finding 4 - IGA Is Declared Finished00:08:30 Finding 5 - AI Jim Is the Root Cause of Everything00:10:00 The April Fools Reveal and Real Talk on Identity00:11:00 Open Jim Claw Interrupts the BroadcastKEYWORDSIDAC, Identity at the Center, Jeff Steadman, Jim McDonald, April Fools, agentic AI, non-human identity, NHI, identity governance, zero trust, passwordless, IGA, IAM, access management, segregation of duties, least privilege, Open Jim Claw

Jim McDonald sits down with Greg Handrick, Director of IAM at Best Buy, for a wide-ranging conversation on running enterprise identity at one of America's largest consumer electronics retailers. Greg traces a nonlinear career path from Oracle DBA and Novell administrator to IAM director. The discussion covers Best Buy's CIO-reporting structure for IAM, how their steering committee evolved from status meetings into a strategic body, and managing identity across workforce, vendors, marketplace sellers, and non-human identities. Greg and Jim also dig into communicating identity value in business language, making the investment case without FUD, identity and cyber convergence, AI adoption, and psychological safety on a well-run IAM team. The Lighter Note wraps with Greg's YouTube-powered DIY hobby life.Connect with Greg: https://www.linkedin.com/in/greghandrick/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.comTimestamps00:00:00 Intro and upcoming event announcements00:03:00 Meet Greg Handrick, Director of IAM at Best Buy00:04:00 What is Best Buy?00:05:00 Greg's career path from Oracle DBA to IAM Director00:12:00 IAM reporting to the CIO vs. the CISO00:17:00 How Best Buy's IAM steering committee evolved00:22:00 Third-party and non-human identities at scale00:24:00 Identity as a team sport and imposter syndrome00:27:00 Communicating identity value in business language00:28:00 Making the investment case for IAM without FUD00:32:00 Identity and cybersecurity convergence at Best Buy00:35:00 Balancing technical depth with business acumen00:38:00 AI in identity programs today00:39:00 Leadership philosophy and psychological safety00:43:00 Will AI replace identity practitioners?00:46:00 Ledger Note: DIY projects and the power of YouTubeKeywords: IDAC, Identity at the Center, Jim McDonald, Jeff Steadman, Greg Handrick, Best Buy, IAM, identity and access management, identity security, CIO, CISO, steering committee, SailPoint, Ping Identity, Active Directory, third-party identity, non-human identity, identity governance, PAM, privileged access management, zero trust, AI in identity, leadership, retail IAM, imposter syndrome, psychological safety

In this Sponsor Spotlight, Jeff Steadman and Jim McDonald welcome back Stephen Cox, co-founder and CTO of Strivacity, for his third appearance and second sponsored episode. Stephen explains Strivacity's role as a CIAM platform and how it is evolving to address agentic AI identity. Topics include why agentic AI changes the identity equation, how agents differ from humans in authentication and authorization, the delegation model and open standards such as OAuth and token exchange, the limitations of API keys in agentic contexts, where MCP fits into the identity picture, managing multi-agent chains and subagents, and why the accountability model must be established before agentic systems reach production. The episode closes with a lighter note on simulation baseball.

This episode is sponsored by Strivacity. Learn more at strivacity.com.

Connect with Stephen: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephencox/

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 idacpodcast.com

TIMESTAMPS

00:00:00 Introduction and welcome

00:02:30 About Strivacity and agentic AI platform support

00:06:30 Why now is the right time to address agentic identity in CIAM

00:09:00 How agent authentication and authorization differ from humans

00:14:30 Good bots vs bad bots and the history of autonomous agents in CIAM

00:19:00 Building your own agent identity solution: five key focus areas

00:23:00 Where Strivacity sits in the agentic identity stack

00:26:00 Why open standards matter and the vendor lock-in conversation

00:28:00 Managing multiple delegated agents and user-facing control

00:32:00 API keys and their limitations in agentic AI contexts

00:38:00 MCP servers, proxies, and agent-to-agent protocols

00:43:00 Multi-agent chains, subagents, and constrained delegation

00:46:00 How existing Strivacity customers extend to agentic use cases

00:48:00 The one thing you must get right: the accountability model

00:51:00 Lighter note: simulation baseball

KEYWORDS

IDAC, Identity at the Center, Jeff Steadman, Jim McDonald, Strivacity, Stephen Cox, CIAM, customer identity, agentic AI, AI agents, delegated identity, OAuth, token exchange, MCP, Model Context Protocol, API keys, non-human identity, authorization, authentication, delegation model, accountability, multi-agent, subagents, OpenID Connect, least privilege, identity governance

Jeff and Jim review seven major IAM and cybersecurity industry reports from Q1 2026, covering releases from Check Point, Recorded Future, Sophos, Palo Alto Unit 42, IBM X-Force, Darktrace, and Hypr. They pull high-level findings and hot takes from each, identifying recurring themes: AI accelerating attack speed to as little as 72 minutes from breach to data exfiltration, identity infrastructure as the primary attack surface, machine identities as a growing and undermanaged risk, MFA gaps enabling credential abuse, and the near-impossibility of blocking every intrusion attempt. The episode also covers third-party and supply chain risk, deepfake attacks reaching 87% of surveyed organizations, stalled passkey adoption in the enterprise, and what zero standing privilege looks like in practice. They close with a lighter discussion on dark mode versus light mode and a hypothetical podcast reboot.

Reports:

Check Point Cyber Security Report 2026 — https://www.checkpoint.com/security-report/

Recorded Future 2026 State of Security Report — https://www.recordedfuture.com/research/state-of-security

Sophos Active Adversary Report 2026 — https://www.sophos.com/en-us/blog/2026-sophos-active-adversary-report

Palo Alto Networks Unit 42 Global Incident Response Report 2026 — https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/resources/research/unit-42-incident-response-report

IBM X-Force Threat Intelligence Index 2026 — https://www.ibm.com/reports/threat-intelligence

Darktrace Annual Threat Report 2026 — https://www.darktrace.com/resources/annual-threat-report-2026

HYPR 2026 State of Passwordless Identity Assurance Report — https://www.hypr.com/report

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

0:00 - Intro and weather chat

3:00 - Conference updates: EIC Berlin and Identiverse

7:30 - Q1 2026 IAM report roundup overview

8:30 - Check Point Cybersecurity Report 2026

13:00 - Recorded Future State of Security 2026

17:00 - Sophos Active Adversary Report 2026

21:00 - Palo Alto Unit 42 Global Incident Response Report

23:00 - IBM X-Force Threat Intelligence Index 2026

28:00 - Darktrace Annual Threat Report 2026

29:30 - Common themes across reports

37:00 - Hypr State of Passwordless Identity Assurance 2026

44:30 - Overall takeaways: AI speed, machine identity, third-party risk

48:00 - Light mode vs. dark mode and podcast reboot hypothetical

57:00 - Wrap-up

KEYWORDS

IAM, identity and access management, IDAC, Identity at the Center, Jeff Steadman, Jim McDonald, cybersecurity, Q1 2026, Check Point, Recorded Future, Sophos, Palo Alto, Unit 42, IBM X-Force, Darktrace, Hypr, machine identity, NHI, MFA, passkeys, zero trust, zero standing privilege, AI threats, deepfakes, credential theft, phishing, ransomware, supply chain risk, ITDR, passwordless, EIC, Identiverse