Services · Identity
Give AI agents identities you can actually govern.
Design and implement the identity layer for AI agents: what an agent is, what it may do, on whose behalf, and how to prove it after the fact.
The problem
Why this exists.
Agents are being given API keys and long-lived service accounts because that is what the existing systems accept. The result is a new class of over-privileged non-human identity that no one can attribute, rotate, or revoke quickly — and that is exactly what post-quantum migration makes harder to retrofit.
What changes
- Every agent has a verifiable workload identity
- Credentials are short-lived and automatically rotated
- Delegation is explicit, scoped, and auditable
- Human approval gates exist where authority is consequential
Delivery
How the engagement runs.
A sequence you can plan around, with a decision or a working artifact at the end of every phase.
- 01
Assess
Inventory agents, their credentials, and the actions they can take today.
- 02
Design
Define identity, delegation, and authorization policy for each agent class.
- 03
Implement
Deploy workload identity, token exchange, and policy enforcement.
- 04
Validate
Test revocation, attribution, and failure modes; hand over runbooks.
Deliverables
What you keep.
- Agent identity architecture and trust model
- Workload identity implementation (SPIFFE/SPIRE or platform-native)
- OAuth 2.0 token exchange and delegation patterns
- Policy-as-code for agent authorization
- Audit schema and attribution reporting
- Runbook for revocation and incident response
Fit
Who this is for.
- Enterprises deploying agents against internal systems
- Platform teams replacing shared API keys
- Identity teams asked to govern non-human identities
- Regulated organizations that must attribute machine actions
Typical duration
8–12 weeks
Scope and elapsed time depend on access, estate size, and change control. We confirm both in writing before work starts.
Not sure which engagement fits? Start with the ten-minute assessment, or ask us directly.
Next step
Find out what you are actually running.
Cipher Posture finds and fixes quantum-vulnerable cryptography. Threat Model Agent models the whole system. Start with the readiness assessment.