Identity at the Center

This Sponsor Spotlight episode, made possible with support from Tuebora, features Jim McDonald in conversation with Sanjay Nadimpalli, CEO and founder of Tuebora. Sanjay shares his path into identity beginning as one of the first engineers at Aveksa, then discusses how intelligence is reshaping identity governance and administration by replacing static configuration with continuous, context-aware decision making. The conversation covers the concept of governance debt, how AI can interpret organizational intent expressed in natural language, and where human oversight remains essential. The discussion also explores governance of agentic identities, including how they differ from traditional service accounts, the challenges posed by their ephemeral and dynamic nature, and the policy-driven frameworks needed to manage them. Sanjay closes with a reflection on what identity practitioners should be thinking about for the next few years.

Connect with Sanjay: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sanjaynadimpalli/

Learn more about Tuebora: https://www.tuebora.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 http://idacpodcast.com

00:00:00 - Introduction and welcome
00:00:56 - How Sanjay got into identity
00:02:40 - Full circle moment with Deepak Taneja and Zilla
00:03:05 - What Tuebora does
00:04:14 - The story behind the name Tuebora
00:05:20 - Can intelligence replace configuration
00:10:05 - Why static configuration falls short today
00:14:52 - Customer frustrations with legacy environments
00:21:09 - Comparing this to everyday AI tool use
00:23:31 - How intelligence drives outcomes
00:28:42 - Maintaining security control alongside AI
00:32:38 - The orchestra analogy for AI and human roles
00:35:28 - Introducing agentic identity governance
00:36:10 - Why agentic identities differ from service accounts
00:42:20 - The scale problem of agentic identities
00:44:00 - Building a framework for agent governance
00:47:35 - Closing advice for identity practitioners
00:52:06 - Where to find Tuebora next

IDAC, Identity at the Center, Jeff Steadman, Jim McDonald, Sanjay Nadimpalli, Tuebora, Sponsor Spotlight, identity governance, IGA, agentic identity, AI agents, governance debt, explainability, IAM, access governance, non-human identity, Aveksa, continuous governance, identity governance and administration

Recorded live at Identiverse 2026 in Las Vegas, Jeff sits down with Decoded co-host Sean O'Dell for a wide-ranging state of the union on continuous identity, shared signals, and the identity questions AI keeps raising. Sean shares what he is hearing on the ground about the upcoming transaction tokens spec, why continuous identity has moved from concept to mainstream adoption, and how shared signals are expanding into commerce. The conversation shifts to AI: the real cost of securing it, why model provenance matters, and the murky question of who is on the hook when an AI agent makes an expensive or harmful decision on your behalf. They debate companion agents, consent versus power of attorney, and whether the identity industry even owns this problem. Sean closes with a simple piece of advice for anyone feeling overwhelmed by AI right now.

Connect with Sean: https://www.linkedin.com/in/seanodentity/

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 a Decoded update
00:44 Transaction tokens spec preview
01:51 State of the union on continuous identity
03:39 The questions organizations are asking
04:34 Is it still all about the data
05:07 Shared signals framework moving into commerce
06:40 Is AI a fad at Identiverse this year
07:11 The real cost of securing AI
08:00 Model provenance and indemnity
09:39 IAM for AI versus AI for IAM
10:18 Trusting agents to act without oversight
14:51 Assigning authority to the who and the what
16:13 The cruise booking example and who is on the hook
20:16 Companion agents, consent, and power of attorney
23:00 Does the identity industry own this problem
25:00 Relationship and intent as the real issue
28:03 Could an insurance market emerge for agentic AI
29:18 An access review scenario gone wrong
30:41 Small specialized language models for identity tasks
32:11 Favorite hallway conversations at Identiverse
36:05 Wrap up and words of wisdom on AI FOMO

Keywords: IDAC, Identity at the Center, Jeff Steadman, Jim McDonald, Sean O'Dell, Decoded, Identiverse 2026, continuous identity, transaction tokens, shared signals framework, agentic AI, AI security, model provenance, IAM, digital identity, identity and access management

Live from the IDAC booth at Identiverse 2026, Jeff and Jim sit down with Pam Dingle, Director of Identity Standards at Microsoft, to unpack agentic identity. Pam breaks down assistive versus autonomous agents, walks through where standards like SPIFFE and OAuth hold up, and explains the difference between delegation, impersonation, and partition. The conversation also covers credential discovery risk, shared signals and revocation, what enterprises should prioritize now, and the value of hallway conversations at Identiverse.

Connect with Pam: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pameladingle/

OAuth Actor Profile for Delegation: https://www.ietf.org/archive/id/draft-mcguinness-oauth-actor-profile-00.html

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 Identiverse 2026 vibes
04:01 Defining agentic identity
07:06 Has the earth really shifted
11:38 An old problem thats been bejeweled
15:13 From Nulli Secundus to Microsoft
16:00 How standards are holding up
19:27 Client ID metadata and just in time trust
21:41 Shared signals and the revocation problem
24:43 Deploying agentic identity at scale
28:11 Registries at scale
29:04 Delegation authorization and attenuation
32:33 Delegation vs impersonation vs partition
36:03 The one thing you can fix right now
37:56 Favorite hallway conversation
42:29 The solar system of hallway conversations
45:51 Remembering Kim Cameron
48:00 New voices to watch
52:08 Wrap up and thank you

Keywords: IDAC, Identity at the Center, Jeff Steadman, Jim McDonald, Pam Dingle, Pamela Dingle, Microsoft, Identiverse 2026, agentic identity, agentic AI, non-human identity, delegation, impersonation, SPIFFE, OAuth, identity standards, IAM, digital identity, workload identity

In this Sponsor Spotlight episode, Jeff Steadman flies solo and welcomes Greg Danyi, co-founder and CTO of P0 Security, to the show. Greg walks through P0's approach to runtime access control, covering how it applies to humans, non-human identities, and AI agents alike. The conversation digs into the difference between authentication and authorization, why zero standing privilege is more achievable now than before agentic adoption took hold, and how dynamic, evidence-based policies can reduce reliance on manual approvals. Greg also shares real examples, including row-level access control for data lakes and a CRM mishap that shows how easily agents can misinterpret intent. The episode closes with a look at where enterprise AI agent governance may be headed over the next few years, plus a lighter conversation about explaining IAM to a 10-year-old. This episode is made possible through the generous support of P0 Security as part of IDAC's nonprofit Sponsor Spotlight series. Learn more at p0.dev/idac.

Connect with Greg (Gergely): https://www.linkedin.com/in/gergely-danyi/
Learn more about P0: https://p0.dev/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 - Introduction and sponsor acknowledgment
01:13 - Greg Danyi's path into IAM
02:18 - What P0 Security solves for
03:21 - Where P0 fits versus PAM and IGA
04:46 - Agentic identity as a driver of adoption
05:27 - MCP servers and unpredictable agent actions
07:10 - Defining runtime access control
08:50 - How authentication and authorization work together
09:07 - Standing access versus expressed intent
10:16 - Zero standing privilege in practice
12:27 - Agentic identity as a distinct identity class
19:24 - Automated evidence for approvals
20:42 - Walking through a support agent example
22:13 - Row-level access control for data lakes
23:35 - Dynamic roles explained
29:55 - CRUD risks and underestimated concerns
31:32 - Human intent and giving agents clear direction
36:32 - Where enterprise AI agent governance is headed
39:36 - Advice for CIOs and CISOs getting started
41:15 - Explaining IAM to a 10-year-old
42:29 - Board games, dice, and calculated risk
44:00 - Closing thoughts and where to learn more

Keywords: IDAC, Identity at the Center, Jeff Steadman, Jim McDonald, Greg Danyi, P0 Security, runtime access control, agentic identity, zero standing privilege, non-human identity, authentication, authorization, IAM podcast

Jim McDonald and Jeff Steadman took the Identity at the Center podcast live at Identiverse 2026 in Las Vegas for a crowd-sourced game show called Majority Rules. Identity professionals competed in real time, picking answers to IAM and conference questions in a race to predict the majority. With a prize pool of over $5,000 for the top ten scorers, the stakes were high and the honesty was brutal. The episode also marks a milestone: IDAC hitting two million downloads. Thanks to Shirley Han and the CyberRisk Alliance team, and to sponsors Hyper, Red Block, SlashId, Rubrik, Stratacity, FusionAuth, Nexus, CrowdStrike, Hush Security, PlainId, RSM, and CyberRisk Alliance.

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

0:00 Introduction and Two Million Downloads Milestone
1:00 Sponsor and Event Team Recognition
3:00 How to Play Majority Rules
4:00 Warm-Up Round Begins
6:00 Battle Royale Mode Explained
8:30 Decentralized Identity and the LDAP Reality
10:30 Las Vegas Evening Entertainment
11:30 Top Identity Trends at Identiverse 2026
12:30 Access Certification and the 4:55 PM Click
13:30 Classic Vegas and Expo Hall Favorites
14:50 PAM Strategies and the Post-it Note
16:00 Conference Navigation and Footwear Survival
18:00 Identity Log Monitoring Chaos
19:30 Hallway Track Conversations
20:30 Cloud Entitlements and Everyone Gets Root
21:00 Sleep Habits at a Security Conference
22:00 Business Cards in 2026
23:00 Legacy App Strategy and Thoughts and Prayers
24:45 Las Vegas Dining Preferences
25:30 Winners Announced and Closing

Keywords: IDAC, Identity at the Center, Jeff Steadman, Jim McDonald, Identiverse, Identiverse 2026, Majority Rules, live event, game show, IAM, identity and access management, decentralized identity, LDAP, SSO, PAM, privileged access management, cloud entitlements, ISPM, access certification, Las Vegas, cybersecurity, conference