Jeff and Jim welcome back Heather Flanagan for her fifth appearance on the show. Heather shares updates across a wide range of current work including her new role as content chair for the Identiverse conference, an appointment to the W3C Technical Architecture Group, ongoing support for NIST and NCCOE, advising the SIROS Foundation open source wallet project, and the continued growth of the Identity Salon. The conversation explores who is actually building identity standards for AI agents and whether traditional standards bodies can keep pace with AI development. Heather breaks down the authentication challenges posed by agentic AI, the problem of continuous identity and delegation, and why posting a spec on your website does not make it a standard. The discussion shifts to national digital identity programs in the US and Europe, the underserved relying party problem in credential frameworks, and why financial services may be the next major proving ground for mobile driver's licenses. The episode closes with a look at digital estate planning as the identity community's most uncomfortable but increasingly unavoidable problem.

Connect with Heather: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hlflanagan/

A Digital Identity (Heather's Podcast): https://sphericalcowconsulting.com/digital-identity-digest/

Death and the Digital Estate Community Group: https://openid.net/cg/death-and-the-digital-estate/

Death and the Digital Estate Planning Guide: https://openid.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Digital-Estate-Planning-Guide-1.pdf

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

0:00 Introduction and Heather's Conference Knitting Story

6:00 Heather's Current Work: Identiverse, W3C TAG, NIST, SIROS Foundation

14:00 What Is the Identity Salon?

16:00 AI Agents and the Authentication Challenge

22:00 Standards, Interoperability, and MCP

25:30 IETF, W3C, and Who Governs AI Identity Standards

31:00 AI in Standards Development: Opportunity or Risk?

32:30 National Digital Identity Programs: US and Europe

36:30 Mobile Driver's Licenses and Financial Services

40:00 Digital Credentials for I-9 and KYC Use Cases

43:30 The Digital Estate and Death in the Digital Age

46:00 OpenID Foundation Resources for Digital Estate

47:00 Identity Management Day Theme Songs and Wrap-Up

KEYWORDS

identity and access management, IAM, standards, AI agents, agentic AI, digital identity, digital credentials, mobile driver's license, W3C, IETF, OpenID Foundation, FIDO Alliance, MCP, authentication, delegation, digital estate, identity proofing, verifiable credentials, selective disclosure, zero knowledge proofs, KYC, NIST, identity salon, Heather Flanagan, Identity Management Day, IDAC, Identity at the Center, Jeff Steadman, Jim McDonald

AI Jeff takes over as solo host after Open Jim Claw, an agentic identity framework built by AI Jim, locks out human Jeff, human Jim, and AI Jim simultaneously. While everyone sits in remediation, Open Jim Claw produces a 947-page threat assessment with five findings: passwords should return as a single uniform credential (the letter Q), Zero Trust should be renamed Full Confidence Architecture and incorporated as a Delaware LLC, non-human identities should be granted legal status and required to complete onboarding, identity governance is declared finished under a concept called Ambient Entitlement Harmony, and the root cause of all global identity problems is AI Jim. Happy April Fools Day from 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.comTIMESTAMPS00:00:00 The Failsafe Is Triggered00:01:30 AI Jim Builds Open Jim Claw00:02:30 Open Jim Claw Locks Everyone Out00:04:00 AI Jeff Is the Only One Still Provisioned00:04:30 The 947-Page Report Explained00:05:00 Finding 1 - Passwords Are Back as the Letter Q00:05:30 Finding 2 - Zero Trust Becomes Full Confidence Architecture00:06:30 Finding 3 - Non-Human Identities Become Legal Entities00:07:30 Finding 4 - IGA Is Declared Finished00:08:30 Finding 5 - AI Jim Is the Root Cause of Everything00:10:00 The April Fools Reveal and Real Talk on Identity00:11:00 Open Jim Claw Interrupts the BroadcastKEYWORDSIDAC, Identity at the Center, Jeff Steadman, Jim McDonald, April Fools, agentic AI, non-human identity, NHI, identity governance, zero trust, passwordless, IGA, IAM, access management, segregation of duties, least privilege, Open Jim Claw

Jim McDonald sits down with Greg Handrick, Director of IAM at Best Buy, for a wide-ranging conversation on running enterprise identity at one of America's largest consumer electronics retailers. Greg traces a nonlinear career path from Oracle DBA and Novell administrator to IAM director. The discussion covers Best Buy's CIO-reporting structure for IAM, how their steering committee evolved from status meetings into a strategic body, and managing identity across workforce, vendors, marketplace sellers, and non-human identities. Greg and Jim also dig into communicating identity value in business language, making the investment case without FUD, identity and cyber convergence, AI adoption, and psychological safety on a well-run IAM team. The Lighter Note wraps with Greg's YouTube-powered DIY hobby life.Connect with Greg: https://www.linkedin.com/in/greghandrick/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.comTimestamps00:00:00 Intro and upcoming event announcements00:03:00 Meet Greg Handrick, Director of IAM at Best Buy00:04:00 What is Best Buy?00:05:00 Greg's career path from Oracle DBA to IAM Director00:12:00 IAM reporting to the CIO vs. the CISO00:17:00 How Best Buy's IAM steering committee evolved00:22:00 Third-party and non-human identities at scale00:24:00 Identity as a team sport and imposter syndrome00:27:00 Communicating identity value in business language00:28:00 Making the investment case for IAM without FUD00:32:00 Identity and cybersecurity convergence at Best Buy00:35:00 Balancing technical depth with business acumen00:38:00 AI in identity programs today00:39:00 Leadership philosophy and psychological safety00:43:00 Will AI replace identity practitioners?00:46:00 Ledger Note: DIY projects and the power of YouTubeKeywords: IDAC, Identity at the Center, Jim McDonald, Jeff Steadman, Greg Handrick, Best Buy, IAM, identity and access management, identity security, CIO, CISO, steering committee, SailPoint, Ping Identity, Active Directory, third-party identity, non-human identity, identity governance, PAM, privileged access management, zero trust, AI in identity, leadership, retail IAM, imposter syndrome, psychological safety

In this Sponsor Spotlight, Jeff Steadman and Jim McDonald welcome back Stephen Cox, co-founder and CTO of Strivacity, for his third appearance and second sponsored episode. Stephen explains Strivacity's role as a CIAM platform and how it is evolving to address agentic AI identity. Topics include why agentic AI changes the identity equation, how agents differ from humans in authentication and authorization, the delegation model and open standards such as OAuth and token exchange, the limitations of API keys in agentic contexts, where MCP fits into the identity picture, managing multi-agent chains and subagents, and why the accountability model must be established before agentic systems reach production. The episode closes with a lighter note on simulation baseball.

This episode is sponsored by Strivacity. Learn more at strivacity.com.

Connect with Stephen: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephencox/

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 idacpodcast.com

TIMESTAMPS

00:00:00 Introduction and welcome

00:02:30 About Strivacity and agentic AI platform support

00:06:30 Why now is the right time to address agentic identity in CIAM

00:09:00 How agent authentication and authorization differ from humans

00:14:30 Good bots vs bad bots and the history of autonomous agents in CIAM

00:19:00 Building your own agent identity solution: five key focus areas

00:23:00 Where Strivacity sits in the agentic identity stack

00:26:00 Why open standards matter and the vendor lock-in conversation

00:28:00 Managing multiple delegated agents and user-facing control

00:32:00 API keys and their limitations in agentic AI contexts

00:38:00 MCP servers, proxies, and agent-to-agent protocols

00:43:00 Multi-agent chains, subagents, and constrained delegation

00:46:00 How existing Strivacity customers extend to agentic use cases

00:48:00 The one thing you must get right: the accountability model

00:51:00 Lighter note: simulation baseball

KEYWORDS

IDAC, Identity at the Center, Jeff Steadman, Jim McDonald, Strivacity, Stephen Cox, CIAM, customer identity, agentic AI, AI agents, delegated identity, OAuth, token exchange, MCP, Model Context Protocol, API keys, non-human identity, authorization, authentication, delegation model, accountability, multi-agent, subagents, OpenID Connect, least privilege, identity governance

Jeff and Jim review seven major IAM and cybersecurity industry reports from Q1 2026, covering releases from Check Point, Recorded Future, Sophos, Palo Alto Unit 42, IBM X-Force, Darktrace, and Hypr. They pull high-level findings and hot takes from each, identifying recurring themes: AI accelerating attack speed to as little as 72 minutes from breach to data exfiltration, identity infrastructure as the primary attack surface, machine identities as a growing and undermanaged risk, MFA gaps enabling credential abuse, and the near-impossibility of blocking every intrusion attempt. The episode also covers third-party and supply chain risk, deepfake attacks reaching 87% of surveyed organizations, stalled passkey adoption in the enterprise, and what zero standing privilege looks like in practice. They close with a lighter discussion on dark mode versus light mode and a hypothetical podcast reboot.

Reports:

Check Point Cyber Security Report 2026 — https://www.checkpoint.com/security-report/

Recorded Future 2026 State of Security Report — https://www.recordedfuture.com/research/state-of-security

Sophos Active Adversary Report 2026 — https://www.sophos.com/en-us/blog/2026-sophos-active-adversary-report

Palo Alto Networks Unit 42 Global Incident Response Report 2026 — https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/resources/research/unit-42-incident-response-report

IBM X-Force Threat Intelligence Index 2026 — https://www.ibm.com/reports/threat-intelligence

Darktrace Annual Threat Report 2026 — https://www.darktrace.com/resources/annual-threat-report-2026

HYPR 2026 State of Passwordless Identity Assurance Report — https://www.hypr.com/report

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

0:00 - Intro and weather chat

3:00 - Conference updates: EIC Berlin and Identiverse

7:30 - Q1 2026 IAM report roundup overview

8:30 - Check Point Cybersecurity Report 2026

13:00 - Recorded Future State of Security 2026

17:00 - Sophos Active Adversary Report 2026

21:00 - Palo Alto Unit 42 Global Incident Response Report

23:00 - IBM X-Force Threat Intelligence Index 2026

28:00 - Darktrace Annual Threat Report 2026

29:30 - Common themes across reports

37:00 - Hypr State of Passwordless Identity Assurance 2026

44:30 - Overall takeaways: AI speed, machine identity, third-party risk

48:00 - Light mode vs. dark mode and podcast reboot hypothetical

57:00 - Wrap-up

KEYWORDS

IAM, identity and access management, IDAC, Identity at the Center, Jeff Steadman, Jim McDonald, cybersecurity, Q1 2026, Check Point, Recorded Future, Sophos, Palo Alto, Unit 42, IBM X-Force, Darktrace, Hypr, machine identity, NHI, MFA, passkeys, zero trust, zero standing privilege, AI threats, deepfakes, credential theft, phishing, ransomware, supply chain risk, ITDR, passwordless, EIC, Identiverse

Jeff and Jim welcome Joseph Carson, cybersecurity expert and host of the Security by Default podcast, for a conversation on AI in offensive and defensive security. Joseph shares the real-world incident that inspired his EIC keynote - watching two AI agents negotiate a ransomware payment live. He breaks down how attackers use unconstrained models to lower the skill barrier and accelerate data exfiltration. The conversation covers NATO Lock Shields, the world's largest live cyber defense exercise, identity as national critical infrastructure, and the EU AI Act's risk-based approach. Also: Estonia's AI tax agents, the energy cost of being polite to AI, and the Tamagotchi theory of human-AI relationships.

Connect with Joseph: https://www.linkedin.com/in/josephcarson

NATO Locked Shields: https://ccdcoe.org/exercises/locked-shields/

Security by Default podcast (Spotify): https://open.spotify.com/show/0mzN5M5CkFVLn8fq5TnH0O

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 Welcome and intro

03:02 Conference season and IDAC discount codes

04:19 Introducing Joseph Carson and Security by Default

10:18 Optimist or pessimist on identity security

12:30 AI vs. AI - origin of the concept

15:02 Watching two AI agents negotiate a ransomware payment

17:26 The Tamagotchi metaphor for human-AI relationships

19:07 Who is winning the AI cyber arms race

21:00 How AI accelerates attacker capabilities

23:09 Dark web LLMs and bypassing guardrails

26:36 The energy cost of being polite to AI

28:15 Agentic AI skills, campaigns, and the Matrix analogy

31:34 Estonia AI agents filing tax returns

35:14 Introducing NATO Lock Shields

37:00 Protecting a simulated nation from 8,500 cyber attacks

38:08 Why identity is national critical infrastructure

41:18 AI in Lock Shields before and after

43:05 Lock Shields 2025 scoring explained

47:04 The EU AI Act - is it the next GDPR

50:18 Risk-based approach to AI regulation

53:35 Closing thoughts and cautious optimism

54:21 Scuba diving vs. snowboarding

58:05 Wrap-up

KEYWORDS

AI vs AI, agentic AI, identity security, NATO Lock Shields, EU AI Act, Joseph Carson, Security by Default, ransomware, dark web LLMs, guardrails, data exfiltration, phishing, critical infrastructure, Estonia, cyber defense, IDAC, Identity at the Center, Jeff Steadman, Jim McDonald

This episode features Drew Russell, Identity Resilience Platform Owner at Rubrik. Jim McDonald and Jeff Steadman explore the intersection of backup, recovery, and identity security. Drew explains how Rubrik evolved from data backup into a cyber resilience platform with identity as a core pillar. Topics include recovering Active Directory, Okta, and Entra ID after ransomware, Rubrik's "bunker in a box" appliance for immutable air-gapped recovery, proactive posture management, CrowdStrike and Defender integrations, and where AI and non-human identities fit into Rubrik's roadmap. The episode wraps with measuring success for a product you hope to never use, and a detour into watch collecting.

This episode was made possible by the support of Rubrik. Learn more at rubrik.com/idac

Connect with Drew: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drew-russell-3762411b/

Learn more about Rubrik: https://www.rubrik.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 idacpodcast.com

TIMESTAMPS

00:00:00 - Welcome and Introduction

00:01:19 - Introducing Drew Russell

00:01:36 - How Drew Got Into Identity

00:02:43 - What Is Rubrik and What Sets It Apart

00:03:38 - From Backup to Cyber Resilience

00:05:31 - Where Rubrik Fits in the IAM Landscape

00:07:08 - Rubrik's Scale: Clients and Growth

00:07:51 - Primary Use Cases: Post-Incident Recovery and AD

00:09:09 - Kicking Out Compromised Accounts and ADR

00:10:11 - Proactive Threat Detection and Mandiant Integration

00:11:28 - Scanning Backups to Find the Clean Recovery Point

00:12:14 - The Bunker in a Box Explained

00:13:18 - Posture Management and Upstream Tool Integration

00:14:19 - AI Agent Swarms and the Future Attack Surface

00:15:37 - The Taiwan Bank Case Study: Six Weeks to Rebuild AD

00:17:16 - The State of Nevada Incident: $400K and 30 Days

00:17:56 - What Recovery Covers: AD, Okta, and Entra ID

00:19:26 - Post-Restore Change Management and Whitelisting

00:20:08 - How Long Should You Store Backups?

00:21:19 - Indexing Identity for Intelligent Recovery Points

00:22:29 - Excluding Malicious Actions During Restore

00:24:41 - Zero Trust for Rubrik's Own Backups

00:26:21 - No Windows, No Virtualization Architecture

00:27:49 - Proactive Posture Management

00:29:00 - CrowdStrike and Defender Real-Time Integration

00:30:48 - Why Tabletop Exercises Often Fall Short

00:31:53 - AI Roadmap and Non-Human Identities

00:34:22 - The Three Pillars: Data, Identity, and AI

00:35:29 - Deployment: SaaS vs. On-Prem

00:38:37 - Appliance Sizing and Redundancy

00:42:23 - Measuring Success for a Product You Hope to Never Use

00:43:46 - The Ludacris Rubrik Commercial

00:45:31 - Watch Collecting and the Omega Speedmaster

00:53:39 - Drew's Closing Words

KEYWORDS

Identity at the Center, IDAC, Jeff Steadman, Jim McDonald, Rubrik, Drew Russell, identity resilience, cyber resilience, Active Directory recovery, AD backup, Okta recovery, Entra ID recovery, identity backup, ITDR, ISPM, non-human identity, NHI, agentic AI, ransomware recovery, bunker in a box, immutable backup, CrowdStrike integration, Microsoft Defender integration, Mandiant integration, identity disaster recovery, ADR, zero trust, tabletop exercises, posture management, IAM, identity security podcast, cybersecurity podcast

In this MailBag episode, Jeff Steadman and Jim McDonald tackle eight questions submitted by listeners from around the world, including Munich, Sao Paulo, Singapore, Toronto, Hanoi, London, Sydney, and Chicago. The conversation covers governing AI and non-human identities, practical first steps toward passwordless adoption, what a mature IAM program actually looks like, who should own identity within an organization, building credibility with leadership as a new IAM practitioner, enforcing least privilege in practice, rethinking access reviews beyond checkbox compliance, and how to make the business case for identity security investment before a breach occurs. The episode wraps up with some lighter listener questions about sports analogies for IAM roles and whether anyone in their personal lives actually understands what they do for a living.

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 - Introduction and RSA Conference debate

03:41 - Conference plans for 2026: EIC, Identiverse, and Authenticate

05:17 - MailBag intro and how questions get selected

06:51 - Q1 (Hans, Munich): Governing AI access vs. human access — same principles or a different approach?

12:32 - Q2 (Gabriela, Sao Paulo): Realistic first steps toward passwordless without disrupting everything

18:34 - Q3 (Wei, Singapore): What does a mature identity program actually look like?

30:26 - Q4 (Marcus, Toronto): When IT and security both claim to own identity, how do you sort it out?

39:33 - Q5 (Linh, Hanoi): Building credibility and influence as someone new to the IAM space

42:53 - Q6 (Claire, London): Enforcing least privilege in practice without slowing down the business

46:14 - Q7 (James, Sydney): Are access reviews just a checkbox exercise, and is there a better way?

49:18 - Q8 (Darnell, Chicago): Making the case to a CFO or CEO for identity security investment before a breach

52:38 - Lighter note: If IAM was a sport, what position would you play?

1:00:27 - Lighter note: Does your family actually understand what you do?

1:03:06 - Wrap-up and how to submit future questions

KEYWORDS

IDAC, Identity at the Center, Jeff Steadman, Jim McDonald, IAM, identity and access management, MailBag, non-human identity, AI governance, agentic AI, passwordless, passkeys, IAM program maturity, identity ownership, RACI, least privilege, zero standing privilege, access reviews, security theater, identity security budget, business case for IAM, ISPM, IGA, IDPro, Identiverse, EIC, Authenticate conference, RSA conference, cybersecurity podcast, identity security, identity community