Okta for AI Agents
by Okta
Identity, least-privilege access and a kill switch for every AI agent in the enterprise
Okta for AI Agents gives AI agents first-class identities in the same directory that holds employees, then discovers unregistered agents, replaces long-lived tokens with short-lived credentials, and provides access certifications, audit logging and an immediate kill switch. It is built for CISOs and identity teams whose agent estate is growing faster than their ability to say what each agent can reach.
Okta for AI Agents is an identity and governance layer for non-human AI identities, announced in early access in March 2026 and generally available at the end of April 2026. It answers three questions Okta frames as the blueprint for the agentic enterprise: where the agents are, what they can connect to, and what they are allowed to do. Discovery finds both registered and shadow agents, including detection through OAuth consent grants in managed Chrome browsers. Onboarding registers each agent in Okta's Universal Directory as a first-class identity with a named human owner, either natively or by importing from external agent platforms. Protection covers five resource connection types, namely authorization servers issuing scoped tokens, vault-held secrets issued on demand, governed service accounts, applications with managed consent flows and Secure Token Storage, and MCP servers. Governance adds time-bound access requests, certification reviews, full audit logs streamed to a SIEM, and agent deactivation as an immediate kill switch. In July 2026 Okta added Agent Gateway as a research release, an identity-native control plane that sits between agents and enterprise systems without code changes, validating both the agent's identity and the human behind it before brokering a short-lived credential; agent-to-agent connections reached general availability in the same wave and resource access certifications for agents entered early access. Cross App Access, Okta's OAuth extension for agent-to-app access, has been formally adopted as an MCP authorization extension with TypeScript and Java SDKs and 25-plus partners including Anthropic, Slack, Atlassian, Datadog, Figma, Glean and Zoom, reaching Okta Workforce customers through the Okta Integration Network in August 2026. Okta (NASDAQ: OKTA) was founded in 2009 by Todd McKinnon and Frederic Kerrest, employs around 6,400 people and reported $2.92 billion in FY2026 revenue.
The CISO or identity architect at an existing Okta enterprise whose developers have started shipping agents against production systems using long-lived service-account tokens, and who currently cannot answer which agents exist or who owns them.
Every agent becomes a governed identity with a human owner, short-lived credentials, an audit trail and a one-click revocation, managed in the same certification workflow that already covers employees.
At a Glance
- Category
- Governance & Security
- Pricing
- Contact for pricing, Subscription
- Target Market
- CISOs, CIOs, Identity and Access Management Leads, Security Architects, Enterprise Developers
- Deployment
- Cloud-only, API-based
- Founded
- 2009
- Headquarters
- San Francisco, California, United States
- Team Size
- 500+
- Customers
- Not disclosed for the AI agent SKU. Okta reported $2.92B revenue in FY2026, runs an Integration Network of 8,000+ integrations, and named 25+ launch partners for Cross App Access
Key Features
- ✓Agent discovery
Finds known and shadow AI agents across the environment, including detection through OAuth consent grants in managed Chrome browsers.
- ✓Universal Directory registration
Registers each agent as a first-class non-human identity with an assigned human owner, so accountability exists before access is granted.
- ✓Short-lived credential brokering
Replaces long-lived tokens with scoped, on-demand credentials across authorization servers, vault secrets, service accounts, applications and MCP servers.
- ✓Agent Gateway (research release)
Identity-native control plane between agents and systems that validates the agent and the human behind it, requiring no application code changes.
- ✓Governance and kill switch
Time-bound access requests, certification reviews, full audit trails, and agent deactivation that revokes access across connected systems immediately.
- ✓Cross App Access (XAA)
Open OAuth extension adopted as an official MCP authorization extension, with TypeScript and Java SDKs and 25-plus launch partners.
- ✓Agent-to-agent connections
Secures handoffs in multi-agent workflows with temporary least-privilege tokens and an embedded chain of custody for audit.
Capabilities
Use Cases
- •Shadow agent inventory
Surface every agent employees have connected to corporate SaaS through OAuth consent, then register or revoke each one deliberately.
- •Retiring long-lived service-account keys
Swap static credentials shared across agent deployments for short-lived scoped tokens brokered at runtime against policy.
- •Agent access certification
Run periodic reviews of what each agent can reach, remediating privilege creep alongside the existing human access review cycle.
- •Containing a compromised agent
Deactivate the agent identity to cut access across every connected system at once instead of chasing credentials app by app.
- •Governing coding agents
Apply identity policy to Claude Code, GitHub Copilot, Salesforce Agentforce and Amazon Bedrock AgentCore without modifying the tools themselves.
Ideal For
Best For
- ✓Discovering shadow AI agents that employees created without approval, via OAuth consent grant detection in managed browsers
- ✓Replacing long-lived API keys and shared service-account credentials with short-lived, least-privilege tokens issued at runtime
- ✓Running access certifications and audit reviews that cover human and non-human identities in one workflow
- ✓Securing agent access to MCP servers and third-party SaaS through the Cross App Access protocol rather than per-connector OAuth grants
- ✓Immediately revoking a compromised or misbehaving agent's access across every connected system
Not Ideal For
- ✗Enterprises not already standardised on Okta, since the agent layer sits on top of Workforce Identity and buying it alone makes little economic sense
- ✗Small engineering teams wanting a self-serve developer tool: independent comparisons describe sales calls, multi-week onboarding and admin training rather than an afternoon integration
- ✗Buyers who need Agent Gateway in production today, as it was still a research release in July 2026 while resource access certifications remained in early access
- ✗Teams whose agents talk mostly to SaaS applications that have not implemented Cross App Access, because coverage depends entirely on partner adoption of the protocol
Integrations
Deployment
Market & Ratings
Not disclosed for the AI agent SKU. Okta reported $2.92B revenue in FY2026, runs an Integration Network of 8,000+ integrations, and named 25+ launch partners for Cross App Access
Market Analysis
Pros
- ✓Extends identity infrastructure enterprises already operate, namely Universal Directory, governance and audit, to agents instead of standing up a parallel system
- ✓Genuinely shipping rather than announced: general availability at the end of April 2026, with agent-to-agent connections reaching GA in July 2026
- ✓Cross App Access is an open standard adopted as an official MCP authorization extension, with TypeScript and Java SDKs and a broad partner list including Anthropic, Slack, Atlassian and Datadog
- ✓Strong compliance posture, with SOC 2, ISO 27001, HIPAA, GDPR and FedRAMP High/Moderate available through a dedicated Core SKU
- ✓Prebuilt integrations with the agent platforms enterprises are actually deploying, including Salesforce Agentforce, Amazon Bedrock AgentCore and ServiceNow AI Platform
Cons
- ✗The headline component, Agent Gateway, was still a research release as of July 2026, and resource access certifications for agents remained in early access
- ✗No published pricing for the agent SKU; it stacks on Workforce Identity with a $1,500 annual contract minimum and a sales-led negotiation
- ✗Cross App Access only works where the resource application has implemented the protocol, so real coverage depends on partner adoption and creates coordination lock-in
- ✗Independent comparisons describe enterprise complexity and steep learning curves, with implementation measured in weeks to months plus admin training
- ✗Little value for an organisation not already on Okta, since reaching the agent layer means buying the underlying identity platform first
- ✗Okta's own cited statistics come from its commissioned research rather than independent surveys, so the 88% incident figure should be read as vendor-sourced
Pricing
Okta for AI Agents
Contact for pricing
- ✓Agent discovery including shadow agents
- ✓Universal Directory registration with human owners
- ✓Short-lived credentials and least-privilege policy
- ✓Governance workflows, certifications and kill switch
- ✓Audit logs streamed to SIEM
Okta for AI Agents - Core
Contact for pricing
- ✓SKU for regulated environments
- ✓FedRAMP High and Moderate
- ✓HIPAA
Okta Workforce Identity Starter (underlying platform)
From $6/user/mo
- ✓Single Sign-On
- ✓Multi-Factor Authentication
- ✓Universal Directory
- ✓5 Workflows
- ✓Billed annually
Okta Workforce Identity Essentials (underlying platform)
From $17/user/mo
- ✓Adaptive MFA
- ✓Privileged Access
- ✓Lifecycle Management
- ✓Access Governance
- ✓50 Workflows
Okta does not publish list pricing for the AI agent SKU; the product page gates details behind a form, and independent comparisons note that pricing for the agentic features requires sales engagement. It layers on top of Workforce Identity, whose published rates are $6 per user per month for Starter and $17 for Essentials, both billed annually with a $1,500 annual contract minimum, while Professional is quote-only. Budget accordingly: the agent layer is an addition to an existing identity contract rather than a standalone purchase, and a separate 'Okta for AI Agents - Core' SKU exists for FedRAMP High/Moderate and HIPAA environments. Third-party write-ups cite a per-agent-per-month figure discussed at Okta Showcase, but Okta has not published it, so treat any specific number as unconfirmed.
Security & Compliance
Connect
Sources
This page was written from 8 sources, 3 on domains other than okta.com.
- 1.okta.com — govern ai agent identityvendor
- 2.okta.com — okta for ai agents general availabilityvendor
- 3.okta.com — okta announces cross app access partnersvendor
- 4.okta.com — okta july 2026 product innovationsvendor
- 5.okta.com — pricingvendor
- 6.workos.com — okta vs workos agent identity enterprise authentication
- 7.siliconangle.com — okta unveils new framework manage ai agents upcoming okta ai
- 8.en.wikipedia.org — Okta, Inc.
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