SailPoint adds AI agent tools to identity security

SailPoint has expanded its identity security platform with new tools to govern AI agents, machine identities and privileged access, as organisations report a rapid rise in non-human accounts across cloud and software environments.

The update introduces what SailPoint calls an "adaptive identity" framework, positioned as a shift from periodic certifications and manual reviews to continuous oversight of identities and entitlements.

Identity teams have long grappled with the growth of service accounts, application credentials and machine workloads. Generative AI has added another category: AI agents that can request access, call tools and interact with corporate data. These accounts can fall outside standard governance workflows, increasing the risk of unmanaged access paths.

AI agent governance

A key addition is support for discovering and governing AI agents across widely used platforms, including Microsoft 365 Copilot, Databricks, Amazon Bedrock, Google Vertex AI and Salesforce Agentforce. SailPoint also cited Microsoft Foundry, ServiceNow AI Platform, Snowflake Cortex AI and other sources of agent activity.

The updates sit within SailPoint's non-human identity products. SailPoint Agent Identity Security gains new connectors for AI agent discovery and governance, while SailPoint Machine Identity Security adds full lifecycle management for traditional machine accounts.

Bringing these identities into governance has become a priority for security and risk teams. AI agents and service accounts often hold permissions that are hard to map to a single user and can be created or modified frequently. That can leave gaps in entitlement records, especially when access is granted through a mix of cloud-native policies and application-level roles.

Privilege visibility

SailPoint is adding privilege discovery and classification, along with privilege insights. It described these as foundational functions that automatically discover and classify privileged access across an organisation.

Privileged access remains a core focus because it can provide broad reach across systems. In many organisations, privileges are spread across directories, cloud platforms, databases and specialised administrative tools, making it difficult to maintain a single view of who or what has elevated access.

The new features aim to consolidate privilege risk and make it easier to identify over-privileged accounts. SailPoint linked the additions to its "least privilege" and "zero standing privilege" goals, which focus on reducing always-on elevated permissions.

Access requests

A new agent for SailPoint Harbor Pilot is designed to guide users through access requests via a conversational workflow. Harbor Pilot is SailPoint's suite of AI-powered agents for customers of SailPoint Identity Security Cloud.

Access requests remain a frequent operational strain in identity programmes, especially in large organisations with many applications and role definitions. SailPoint's approach is to simplify the request experience while keeping it within governance controls.

Risk detection

SailPoint also updated SailPoint Observability & Insights with deeper integration into the SailPoint Identity Graph, its model for representing identities and their access relationships across systems.

The new Observability & Insights features add direct privilege visibility and risk detection within the Identity Graph, along with identity comparisons and additional operational intelligence. SailPoint is also integrating Data Access Security with the Identity Graph to visualise data access pathways and add context about sensitive data exposure.

This linkage reflects a broader industry move to connect identity signals with security monitoring and incident response. Identity context can be critical during investigations, particularly when attackers use valid credentials or exploit service accounts. Combined identity and data access views can also reveal risky combinations of permissions and data reach.

Governance roadmap

Alongside near-term releases, SailPoint outlined further changes to its governance engine. A next-generation Access Certification engine and a Separation of Duties overhaul are planned for the second half of 2026.

Access certifications and Separation of Duties controls remain central to many compliance programmes, even as organisations try to reduce manual review workloads. Modernisation typically focuses on scaling reviews across more identities, improving the reviewer experience and integrating stronger risk signals into decision-making.

SailPoint Executive Vice President of Product and Chief Technology Officer Chandra Gnanasambandam said the shift reflects the pace of change in cloud environments and the growth of AI and machine identities.

"The old way of identity governance is simply no longer effective. It's not enough to rely on static, after-the-fact reviews in today's dynamic threat landscape," said Chandra Gnanasambandam, EVP of Product and Chief Technology Officer, SailPoint.

TMF Group also pointed to its use of SailPoint's tools in a customer statement.

"Leveraging SailPoint's AI capabilities, TMF Group has elevated identity governance into a fully automated, intelligence-driven capability ensuring consistent compliance across 87 jurisdictions while supporting secure global growth," said Saurabh Gugnani, Senior Director, Global Head - Cybersecurity Engineering, Architecture & Projects, TMF Group.