PAM Is Becoming Critical for Protecting Digital Identities in the Age of AI

Privileged Access Management (PAM) is becoming an increasingly important part of cybersecurity as businesses adopt artificial intelligence, cloud services and automated systems. With cybercriminals targeting administrator accounts, machine identities and AI agents, organizations are looking for stronger ways to control access to sensitive systems and protect valuable digital assets.

For years, PAM has played a central role in protecting corporate networks by controlling who can access critical systems and administrative accounts. However, the growing use of AI is changing how organizations approach identity security.

Businesses no longer need to protect only employee accounts and IT administrator credentials. They must also manage access granted to automated workflows, cloud applications, APIs, machine identities and autonomous AI agents.

These systems can interact with sensitive information, execute transactions and make changes to business infrastructure. If attackers compromise an identity with excessive permissions, they could potentially steal confidential information, deploy ransomware or disrupt important operations.

As a result, cybersecurity experts are calling for a broader approach to privileged access management that focuses not only on who can enter a system but also on what they are allowed to do after gaining access.

Why Privileged Access Management Matters More Than Ever

Privileged accounts provide access to an organization's most important digital resources. These accounts typically belong to system administrators, IT teams and other employees who need elevated permissions to manage business operations.

Because of their extensive access, privileged accounts are attractive targets for cybercriminals and state-sponsored hacking groups.

An attacker who gains control of an administrator account could potentially access confidential files, modify system configurations, steal intellectual property or introduce ransomware into an organization's network.

The growing adoption of cloud computing and remote working has made the situation more complicated. Businesses now operate across multiple platforms, applications and connected environments, creating more opportunities for attackers to exploit weak access controls.

Artificial intelligence adds another layer of complexity. AI agents can increasingly perform tasks independently, including accessing workplace applications, handling sensitive information and executing automated operations.

If an attacker compromises one of these agents, the system could potentially perform harmful actions at a speed that makes traditional human oversight difficult.

Modern PAM solutions therefore need to protect both human and non-human identities while controlling the activities they can perform.

How AI Is Changing the Cybersecurity Threat Landscape

Traditional privileged access management systems were primarily designed to protect administrator accounts and other high-level user credentials.

That approach is becoming less effective as businesses introduce more automated technologies.

An organization may now have hundreds of privileged identities spread across cloud platforms, software applications, automated workflows and connected infrastructure.

AI agents make these challenges even more significant because they can independently interact with systems and perform actions that previously required human involvement.

For example, an AI agent might access financial applications, retrieve business information or modify infrastructure settings. If it receives excessive permissions or becomes compromised, attackers could potentially misuse those capabilities.

This creates an important distinction between authentication and authorization.

Authentication determines whether an identity is legitimate, while authorization establishes what that identity is permitted to do.

Security systems must increasingly evaluate individual actions rather than simply trusting an identity because it successfully authenticated.

The next generation of PAM technology is expected to place greater emphasis on temporary permissions, continuous monitoring and restrictions on sensitive operations.

Leading Companies Expanding the PAM Security Market

Several established cybersecurity companies are developing broader identity protection platforms to address the growing demand for privileged access management.

Some of the major providers include:

CyberArk

<text> </text>

<text> </text>

<text> </text>

CyberArk has established itself as a major provider of privileged access and identity security solutions.

Its technology includes credential vaulting, password management, privileged session monitoring, secrets management and privilege elevation.

The company's approach focuses on protecting human, machine and emerging AI identities across cloud and hybrid environments.

One important security strategy is just-in-time access, which gives users elevated permissions only when they need them. This helps organizations reduce permanent administrative privileges that attackers could otherwise exploit.

BeyondTrust

BeyondTrust offers a range of cybersecurity products covering privileged account management, remote access, endpoint privilege management and secrets management.

Its security platform also addresses identity-related threats across cloud environments, applications and connected devices.

The company's broader strategy reflects an industry shift toward combining traditional PAM capabilities with identity threat detection and cloud access management.

Keeper Security

Keeper Security is another established provider expanding beyond traditional password management.

Its enterprise security portfolio includes KeeperPAM, secrets management, privileged session management and secure remote access.

The company's cloud-based approach combines credential protection with zero-trust security principles and least-privilege access controls.

These capabilities are designed to help organizations manage sensitive credentials across distributed workforces and hybrid IT environments.

Other PAM Providers

Other companies also operate in the privileged access management market.

Delinea provides enterprise-focused solutions for securing privileged accounts and managing access to critical infrastructure.

Broadcom, through its CA Technologies security portfolio, also offers privileged access management technology aimed at large organizations and managed service providers.

Together, these providers illustrate how PAM is expanding from password storage and administrator account protection into a broader identity security category.

Why PAM, IAM and Secrets Management Are Coming Together

Another important development is the growing convergence of Privileged Access Management (PAM), Identity and Access Management (IAM), secrets management and identity governance.

Traditionally, businesses relied on separate tools to manage employee identities, administrator credentials, application permissions and sensitive authentication information.

However, the increasing number of connected systems has made this separation more difficult to maintain.

Employees, applications, cloud workloads and AI agents now interact across shared environments. Managing their permissions through disconnected security products can create visibility gaps and unnecessary complexity.

Combining these capabilities into broader security platforms can help organizations monitor access more effectively and simplify administration.

However, greater consolidation also introduces another concern: vendor dependency.

If an organization places all its sensitive credentials and access controls within a single platform, a security incident involving that provider could create significant risks.

Businesses should therefore evaluate how vendors store credentials, protect encryption keys and manage access to customer information.

For industries such as banking, healthcare, government and critical infrastructure, maintaining independent control over sensitive credentials is particularly important.

SplitSecure Introduces a Different Approach to Privileged Access

Alongside established cybersecurity providers, newer companies are exploring alternative ways to protect privileged credentials.

One example highlighted in the original analysis is SplitSecure, a startup developing a different approach to privileged access protection.

Instead of depending entirely on conventional centralized credential storage, SplitSecure uses a cryptographic technique known as Shamir's Secret Sharing.

This method divides sensitive information into multiple shares, which can be distributed across different locations or devices. A predefined number of shares must be combined to reconstruct the original secret.

The approach is intended to reduce the risk associated with storing highly sensitive credentials in a single location.

SplitSecure also emphasizes what it describes as sovereign access control, allowing organizations to maintain greater control over their credentials without depending entirely on a technology vendor.

Its platform supports areas such as privileged account protection, SSH access, certificate management and multi-party approvals. The company also highlights integrations with identity providers such as Okta and Microsoft Entra ID.

One particularly interesting application involves AI agents.

Rather than giving an AI system direct access to sensitive credentials, organizations could use external security controls to authorize individual operations.

This would allow an AI agent to prepare a financial transaction or recommend an action without automatically receiving permission to execute it.

A human administrator could then approve the final operation through a separate authorization process.

This distinction between an AI system's ability to perform a task and its authority to execute that task could become an important part of enterprise cybersecurity.

Why AI Agents Need Independent Security Controls

As AI agents become more capable, organizations must be careful about the permissions they receive.

An AI system might be designed to follow specific security instructions, but relying entirely on the model to enforce its own restrictions creates unnecessary risks.

Problems such as prompt injection, compromised instructions and excessive permissions could cause an agent to behave in unexpected ways.

For this reason, security restrictions should operate independently of the AI model itself.

For example, a company could allow an AI agent to analyze financial information and prepare payment instructions while requiring human approval before any money is transferred.

Similarly, an AI assistant working with healthcare information could be permitted to organize records but prevented from sharing protected patient data with unauthorized third parties.

These restrictions should be enforced through technical access controls rather than relying on the AI system to remember and follow its instructions.

The same principle applies to human employees and automated applications. Sensitive actions should require appropriate authorization regardless of which identity initiates them.

The Regulatory Impact of AI-Powered Access Management

The expansion of AI across business operations also creates new compliance challenges.

Organizations working in regulated industries must ensure that sensitive information remains protected and that access to important systems is properly controlled.

Healthcare providers, for example, must follow requirements governing protected health information under regulations such as HIPAA.

Financial institutions also need strict controls over transactions, customer information and administrative operations.

AI agents operating within these environments must follow the same security and compliance requirements as other users and applications.

Independent authorization systems can help organizations establish clear rules about which operations require additional approval.

Businesses could implement policies that prevent autonomous AI systems from sharing protected information, completing high-value financial transactions or making sensitive infrastructure changes without authorization.

Maintaining detailed records of access requests, approvals and system activities can also help organizations demonstrate compliance and investigate suspicious behavior.

However, organizations must evaluate the actual capabilities of individual security products rather than assuming that every emerging AI governance feature is already available.

Six PAM Security Practices Businesses Should Prioritize

As privileged access management evolves, organizations should consider several important security measures.

1. Apply the principle of least privilege

Employees and applications should receive only the permissions required to perform their responsibilities. Unnecessary administrative access increases the potential damage from compromised accounts.

2. Introduce just-in-time access

Elevated permissions should be granted temporarily rather than remaining active indefinitely. This reduces the number of permanently privileged accounts available to attackers.

3. Protect machine and AI identities

Security policies should cover automated workflows, APIs, cloud workloads, service accounts and AI agents in addition to human users.

4. Control individual actions

Organizations should evaluate what an identity can actually do after authentication. High-risk activities should require additional authorization where appropriate.

5. Maintain independent AI security controls

Critical security policies should operate outside AI models. Human approval and deterministic authorization mechanisms should protect sensitive operations.

6. Improve monitoring and vendor risk management

Businesses should maintain detailed activity logs, monitor permission changes and assess the risks associated with third-party security providers.

Implementing these practices can help reduce the impact of compromised identities and strengthen an organization's overall security posture.

The Future of PAM Is About Controlling What Identities Can Do

Privileged Access Management is becoming more important as organizations move toward AI-powered and increasingly automated business environments.

Protecting administrator passwords and restricting access to critical systems remain essential, but these measures are no longer sufficient on their own.

Businesses must also consider the permissions granted to machine identities, cloud applications and autonomous AI agents.

The next stage of PAM will likely focus on controlling individual actions, limiting unnecessary privileges and ensuring that sensitive operations remain under appropriate human and organizational supervision.

Ultimately, the goal is to prevent any employee, application, vendor or AI agent from gaining more authority than necessary.

As AI becomes more deeply integrated into business operations, controlling what digital identities are allowed to do could become just as important as verifying who or what they are.