7 August 2025

^{Eric Olden, CEO of Strata Identity}

 

Strata Identity, a pioneer in identity orchestration, has been named a Sample Vendor in the 2025 Gartner report, “Reduce IAM Technical Debt” by analysts Nat Krishnan and Erik Wahlstrom. This milestone highlights the growing significance of Strata’s approach to modernising identity and access management (IAM) without adding new complexity to enterprise environments.

MoveTheNeedle.news spoke with Eric Olden, CEO of Strata Identity, to explore how the company is leading the evolution of IAM and what this recognition means for its future.

Tackling IAM’s Legacy Problem: Why Gartner Took Note

Strata’s inclusion in the Gartner report comes at a time when enterprises across the globe are grappling with ageing IAM systems, legacy protocols, and mounting technical debt—often built up over decades.

“Gartner recognised us because we’re solving one of the most urgent problems in identity today, modernising complex, legacy IAM systems without breaking what already works,” said Olden. “Our Maverics Identity Orchestration platform helps enterprises eliminate technical debt by abstracting identity logic from applications. That means you can migrate from old identity providers (IDPs) to modern cloud-based IDPs or introduce new authentication methods—like passwordless login or AI agent credentials—without rewriting apps or adding brittle custom code. That alone eliminates years of accumulated risk and complexity.”

The concept of technical debt in IAM refers to the cumulative burden of outdated integrations, hardcoded logic, and brittle connections across legacy applications. For many large organisations, particularly those in finance and government, modernising IAM infrastructure can be a daunting and risky endeavour. Strata’s Maverics platform provides a solution that reduces this burden while allowing modernisation at scale.

Recognition That Builds Trust and Momentum

Industry analysts like Gartner play an influential role in shaping enterprise IT decisions, particularly in complex domains like identity and access management. For Strata, this recognition represents more than just a validation of their technology—it sends a signal to the market.

“Getting this kind of recognition from Gartner is a strong signal to the market,” Olden explained. “It tells enterprise security leaders that we’re not just introducing a new idea, but that we’re delivering something that solves real, systemic challenges in IAM. For teams trying to consolidate identity systems, migrate to the cloud, or support AI transformation securely, having a Gartner-validated solution gives them confidence to move forward with us.”

Strata has been a vocal proponent of identity orchestration, a relatively new category in the IAM landscape. Rather than being another identity provider (IDP), orchestration acts as the connective tissue between disparate identity systems.

“It also reinforces our leadership position in the emerging identity orchestration category,” Olden continued. “We’ve spent the past few years educating the market on why orchestration is the glue that makes complex, multi-cloud identity environments work. With the rise of AI, that orchestration layer has become even more critical. This recognition elevates the conversation and shows that Strata is leading the way in making identity architectures more resilient, flexible, and AI-ready.”

What Is Identity Orchestration, and Why Now?

The rise of multi-cloud environments, SaaS sprawl, and now AI agents has fundamentally changed how identity must be managed. In traditional models, identities are tightly bound to systems, which makes change slow and risky. Maverics introduces an abstraction layer that removes these constraints.

“IAM technical debt is what you get when systems are patched together over years and sometimes decades: custom scripts, legacy protocols, and one-off integrations that no one wants to touch,” said Olden. “Strata tackles that by creating an abstraction layer that connects identity systems without changing the underlying apps.”

This abstraction is not just theoretical. Enterprises use Maverics to decommission ageing tools like SiteMinder, bridge platforms like EntraID and Okta, and introduce modern identity experiences—all without rewriting a single line of application code.

But where Strata is now breaking new ground is in managing AI agents as part of the identity landscape.

“What’s new is how we apply that same model to AI agents. Enterprises are starting to deploy GenAI tools and task-based bots, but there’s no consistent way to manage their access. Maverics lets you govern AI agents the same way you govern people—by orchestrating credentials, enforcing policies, and mapping their actions back to authorised users.”

In an era where AI is embedded across workflows, treating AI entities as first-class identities becomes essential—not only for security but also for compliance and auditability.

What Sets Maverics Apart?

Unlike traditional IAM platforms that function as identity providers, Maverics is provider-agnostic. It orchestrates across existing IDPs, allowing enterprises to retain their investments while enabling modern capabilities.

“Most IAM platforms are identity providers. They want you to move everything into their ecosystem. Maverics is different—we sit on top of all your IDPs and connect them. Whether it’s on-prem, cloud, or a mix, we enable them to operate as a unified identity fabric.”

That flexibility extends to how Maverics handles AI identities.

“With Maverics, we treat agents as first-class identities. They do human-like behaviours so we are assigning them human-like identities. We can issue just-in-time credentials, apply access policies, and handle session management, which is all orchestrated through existing tools.”

The approach avoids siloing AI into bespoke security architectures—something that could compound future technical debt.

Real-World Application: AI Agents in Financial Services

One of the more compelling use cases shared by Olden involves a global financial institution deploying AI agents for internal operations, including trade validation and document processing.

“These agents needed credentials, role-based access, and strict logging—but their existing IAM tools were built around human logins,” said Olden. “Maverics let them extend identity orchestration to those agents without changing the apps or standing up a parallel identity stack.”

The project demonstrated how AI and human users could share a unified governance model, dramatically improving audit readiness and reducing deployment friction.

“They treated the AI agents like real users—with traceable actions and revocable access—which not only reduced risk but also kept them audit-ready. That’s the kind of agility and control organisations are looking for right now.”

Growth Outlook and Market Position

Strata sees identity orchestration not just as a product, but as a strategic capability that modern enterprises need.

“We’re leading the identity orchestration category, especially as the need to manage hybrid IAM environments—and now AI agents—becomes a priority,” Olden said. “We’re gaining adoption with Fortune 500 companies in finance, retail, and government.”

Growth is being fuelled by increasing identity complexity. As cloud adoption, SaaS usage, and AI deployment accelerate, the limitations of traditional IAM platforms become more apparent.

“As enterprises adopt more SaaS, deploy multiple clouds, and introduce AI into the mix, they realise they need orchestration to hold it all together,” Olden noted.

Strata is scaling accordingly—expanding its team, investing in product development, and extending its global footprint.

What’s Next for Maverics?

Looking ahead, the focus for Maverics is on operationalising identity for AI agents with advanced features like delegated authorisation, risk-based session orchestration, and machine learning-driven optimisation.

“We’re focused on helping customers operationalise identity for AI agents,” Olden said. “We’re also expanding our orchestration recipe library to make it easier to adopt things like passwordless login, step-up authentication and failover across multiple IDPs with just a few clicks.”

“Our long-term vision is to make identity orchestration dynamic—so it adapts to user behaviour, context, and policy changes in real time.”

This adaptive orchestration could become critical as identity expands beyond people to include devices, agents, and decentralised credentials.

Strata’s Role in the Future of Identity

Decentralised identity and AI-driven access control are two key trends shaping the next wave of IAM evolution. Strata is positioning itself to bridge legacy and next-gen models.

“We are still in the early days of decentralised identity, but we’re watching it closely,” Olden said. “Our orchestration layer is perfectly suited to be the bridge between traditional enterprise IAM and these emerging identity sources.”

But the more immediate disruption is clearly AI.

“It’s not just about using AI to monitor behaviour—it’s about managing AI itself as an identity. That’s where we see massive change coming.”

Strata’s Maverics platform is helping enterprises manage this change—by offering a cohesive, flexible, and secure identity layer that unifies people, systems, and AI agents alike.