Most security teams aren’t failing at identity because they lack tools. They stall because identity maturity is often misunderstood as a destination, not a constant progression.
As organizations scale, identity quietly becomes the connective tissue between people, systems, data, and now, AI agents. Access decisions stop being occasional events and become continuous. Risk no longer lives in isolated misconfigurations. It hides in patterns, drift, and outdated assumptions about how access should work.
This is why identity maturity matters more in 2026 than it ever has before. Not as a compliance checklist, but as an operating model.
Every organization starts somewhere different. Some inherit spreadsheets and tribal knowledge. Others inherit an audit mandate. Many only take identity seriously after a close call.
It doesn’t matter where you start. Focus on designing an identity program that can constantly move you forward.
Whether you’re designing your first program or managing an already mature program, it’s important that you master the basics and don’t skip steps. Teams that try to govern access before they can see it struggle. Teams that enforce least privilege without clean baselines burn out. Teams that automate without trust in their data create more risk, not less.
Identity maturity builds like a staircase, one step at a time. Here’s how the best teams do it.
Stage zero is where risk hides, not where teams fail
This is the reality most teams live in longer than they want to admit: no central view of identities. SaaS and shadow IT everywhere. Access decisions driven by spreadsheets, tickets, and best guesses. Over-privileged accounts hiding in plain sight.
The risk here is false confidence.
When you cannot answer basic questions like who has access to what, audit pain increases, toxic access combinations go undetected, and identity risk becomes ambient.
The mindset shift at this stage is visibility first: you cannot secure what you cannot see.
Discovery and hygiene are foundational, not glamorous
The most overlooked stages of identity maturity are often the most important.
Discovery is where teams inventory every identity across people, vendors, service accounts, and AI agents. It is where access across SaaS, cloud, and legacy systems becomes visible. It is where privilege is identified and risk becomes measurable.
Hygiene and rationalization come next. Removing stale users, cleaning up unused permissions, and normalizing roles and aligning lifecycle events might not sound like exciting work, but it’s essential.
Without it, governance becomes performative. Automation becomes dangerous. Every future decision is built on unstable ground.
The success metrics here are unglamorous but powerful: Fewer zombie accounts, less manual cleanup, and fewer unknowns.
Governance is about context, not control
Governance is where many identity programs begin to stall.
Too often, it is implemented as friction. Reviews that feel performative. Approvals that slow teams down. Policies that exist on paper but not in practice.
Modern governance is contextual. Approvals are tied to risk, not hierarchy. Access tiers reflect sensitivity. Separation of duties is enforced proactively, not discovered during audits. Reviews are automated and focused on exceptions, not volume.
When governance works, access decisions become faster and more accurate. Trust increases. Identity stops being a bottleneck.
Just-in-time access is a mindset shift, not a feature
Standing privilege is one of the most persistent sources of identity risk.
The shift to just-in-time access and zero standing privilege is not about removing access. It is about changing how access exists.
Privileged access becomes temporary by default. Credentials are short-lived. Elevation is contextual and tied to real work, not permanent entitlement. Access is granted only when needed and removed immediately after.
The success metric here is simple. Privilege exists only when required. Nothing sits idle. This is where identity maturity begins to fundamentally change risk posture.
Autonomous identity
In autonomous identity systems, AI helps drive entitlement recommendations. Normal behavior is understood and anomalies are flagged. Policies are tuned continuously. Authorization adapts in real time based on risk and context.
Manual work becomes exception-driven only.
This is the stage where identity becomes the policy and enforcement layer between humans, machines, and AI agents. It is where identity stops reacting and starts adapting.
The mindset shift is critical: Identity security runs itself, with humans providing direction and oversight.
Why identity maturity matters more in an AI-native world
AI agents do not wait for tickets. They do not think in static roles. They act continuously, across systems, at machine speed. This reality makes identity maturity non-negotiable.
Without clean discovery, you cannot see agent sprawl. Without hygiene, privilege drifts silently. Without contextual governance, automation amplifies risk. Without just in time access, standing privilege becomes systemic. Without autonomy, teams drown in manual work they can no longer scale.
Identity maturity is what allows organizations to truly embrace AI. The most successful teams do not chase the final stage immediately. They build trust step by step. They automate aggressively once foundations are solid. They treat identity as a living system, not a one-time project.
That is what identity maturity looks like in 2026. Ready for your team to get started? Book a demo.
