July 13, 2026
Posted by Akeyless
Artificial Intelligence is changing enterprise security faster than any technology before it. AI agents no longer just answer questions, they access databases, invoke APIs, update records, and make decisions across production environments.
Traditional Identity and Access Management (IAM) was designed for humans who authenticate once and perform predictable actions. AI agents are different. They operate continuously, can spawn dynamically, and execute thousands of actions without human intervention.
This shift has created a new category: Runtime Identity Security.
Industry leaders have each highlighted different pieces of this emerging market. Ping Identity has trademarked “Runtime Identity™” for its own continuous-authorization capability, moving access decisions to the moment of action. IBM has focused on dynamic, just-in-time credentials and execution-layer controls like semantic firewalls. HashiCorp has extended Vault with native AI agent support, including workload identity and ephemeral, per-request authorization. Permiso has focused on runtime detection and attribution, tracing every tool call and MCP invocation back to a specific identity.
We use “Runtime Identity Security” in this article to describe that broader category rather than any single vendor’s product, it spans identity, credentialing, and workload trust across the market, including all of the above.
At Akeyless, we believe Runtime Identity Security goes one step further. It isn’t simply about authenticating an AI agent. It’s about governing every action the agent performs while it is running. Keep reading to learn more about Runtime Identity Security.
What is Runtime Identity Security?
Runtime Identity Security is the practice of continuously verifying and governing identities while they are actively performing work, not just when they first authenticate.
Instead of asking:
“Who are you?”
Runtime Identity asks:
- What are you trying to do?
- Should you still be allowed?
- Has your context changed?
- Is this action safe?
- Should this session continue?
For AI agents, this evaluation happens continuously throughout execution, not only during login.
Why Isn’t Traditional IAM Enough?
Traditional IAM was built around people.
A user logs in.
They receive permissions.
Those permissions remain valid until logout.
AI agents don’t behave this way.
An AI agent might:
- create cloud resources
- access multiple databases
- call dozens of APIs
- execute infrastructure changes
- spawn additional agents
all within seconds.
A one-time authentication decision cannot determine whether every subsequent action is appropriate.
Runtime Identity adds continuous governance after authentication.
What Has Changed with AI Agents?
AI agents are autonomous.
Unlike humans, they:
- make decisions
- chain workflows
- call external tools
- interact with production systems
- operate 24×7
- act at machine speed
Modern identity systems therefore must control behavior, not just identity.
What Are Dynamic Credentials?
Dynamic credentials are temporary credentials generated only when needed.
Instead of storing API keys, passwords or tokens inside the AI agent, credentials are:
- created just-in-time
- limited to one task
- automatically expire
- never reused
This dramatically reduces credential theft risk.
Akeyless calls this SecretlessAI™, issuing short-lived identities while keeping secrets out of code, prompts, pipelines, and the agent itself.
What Is Zero Standing Privilege?
Zero Standing Privilege (ZSP) means access exists only while work is being performed.
When the task finishes:
- credentials disappear
- permissions disappear
- sessions terminate
Nothing permanent remains to steal.
For autonomous AI agents, this minimizes the blast radius if an agent is compromised or manipulated.
What Is Intent-Based Authorization?
Traditional authorization asks:
Does this identity have permission?
Intent-based authorization asks:
Does this requested action match the agent’s intended purpose?
For example:
An AI assistant asked to summarize quarterly sales should never issue:
DROP DATABASEeven if it technically has database credentials.
Akeyless evaluates the requested action against the agent’s stated objective before allowing execution, combining AI-based intent classification with deterministic policy enforcement.
What is Agentic Runtime Authority?
Runtime Authority extends identity security beyond authentication.
Instead of validating only who enters a system, Runtime Authority continuously governs:
- every command
- every API call
- every database query
- every privileged operation
If behavior changes unexpectedly, access can be blocked immediately.
Think of it as a security checkpoint at every action, not just at the front door.
How is Runtime Identity Security different from PAM?
Traditional Privileged Access Management (PAM):
- grants privileged sessions
- records sessions
- rotates credentials
Runtime Identity goes further.
It continuously evaluates:
- intent
- context
- requested actions
- risk
- policy
while the session is running.
For AI agents, that distinction is critical because decisions happen continuously, not just when the session starts.
What is Agentic Identity Intelligence?
Before you can secure AI agents, you need visibility.
Agentic Identity Intelligence continuously discovers:
- AI agents
- identities
- credentials
- entitlements
- ownership
- data access
- privilege drift
- orphaned credentials
This creates a living inventory that feeds runtime policy and governance.
Can AI Agents Operate Without Storing Secrets?
Yes.
This is one of the biggest architectural shifts.
Rather than embedding API keys or passwords inside the agent:
- the agent authenticates using its workload identity
- Akeyless brokers access through its Gateway
- short-lived credentials are injected only for the approved task
- credentials are never exposed to the agent itself
Even if the agent is compromised, there are no long-lived secrets to steal.
Does Runtime Identity Security Replace Identity Providers Like Ping or Okta?
No.
Identity Providers remain essential for:
- authenticating users
- workforce SSO
- federation
- lifecycle management
Runtime Identity complements them by enforcing control after authentication, especially for workloads, machines, and AI agents operating in production. It extends identity into the execution layer rather than replacing existing IdPs.
How Does Akeyless Approach Runtime Identity Security Differently?
Most vendors focus on one part of the problem:
- discovering AI agents
- issuing identities
- managing secrets
- providing workload identity
- monitoring runtime behavior
Akeyless combines these capabilities into a unified Runtime Identity Security Platform.
The platform brings together:
- Agentic Identity Intelligence for discovery and visibility
- SecretlessAI™ for ephemeral, credential-free access
- Agentic Runtime Authority for intent-aware enforcement
- Zero Standing Privilege
- Continuous runtime governance
- Full forensic traceability
- A zero-knowledge architecture powered by Distributed Fragments Cryptography (DFC™), ensuring Akeyless never possesses complete customer secrets or encryption keys.
Why Is Runtime Identity Security Becoming Essential?
Organizations are rapidly deploying AI agents, often with access to sensitive systems, while many still rely on long-lived credentials and fragmented controls. Akeyless’s 2026 State of AI Agent Identity Security research report found that:
- 94% of organizations use AI agents.
- 84% say AI agents can access sensitive data.
- 83% acknowledge a single compromised credential could affect multiple major systems.
- 77% believe AI agent risk is a current, not theoretical, problem.
As AI agents become autonomous operators, identity decisions made once at login are no longer sufficient. Continuous, runtime enforcement is emerging as the security model for the AI era.
Final Thought
Identity has evolved before, from passwords to MFA, from static credentials to Zero Trust. AI agents represent the next inflection point.
For autonomous systems, the question is no longer simply “Who are you?” It’s “What are you doing right now, and should you still be allowed to do it?”
That is the promise of Runtime Identity Security, and the vision Akeyless is building toward with a unified platform that discovers AI agents, eliminates standing credentials, and governs every action at runtime.
Request a Runtime Authority demo to learn how Akeyless Runtime Authority helps organizations enforce Zero Trust principles for AI agents.
