Okta has made a major AI-powered announcement as part of its latest round of technological innovations.
At its Oktane 2023 conference, the identity management firm launched Okta AI, which makes use of the latest models and will be combined with the crowdsourced threat intelligence and identity data the company already holds.
Okta has partnered with Google to build its new AI offerings on top of the tech giant's Vertex AI, the generative AI made for enterprise, in order to "transform Identity management," the company says.
Okta moves to the cutting edge
With Okta AI, the firm hopes to "power real-time Identity actions for security, user experience, and app development." It will be used as part of the Workforce Identity Cloud and Customer Identity Cloud.
The firm is hopeful of the positive impact its new AI system will have, citing IT consulting firm Gartner that organizations that employ AI as part of their identity fabric will, "substantially improve user experience and efficiency of their IAM controls."
Okta also claims that with Okta AI, the usual MFA checks will be surpassed, as it will detect and respond in real-time to potential threats; not just at the point of login, but also throughout the entire active session of a user. This means that protection is extended beyond the first instance of authentication to any time the user is logged in. It is also deployed across the customer's tech stack.
Ian Lowe, Director of Solutions for EMEA for Okta, told us that, "in a gen AI world, identity is more important than ever. If a taxi can now drive itself, a computer can write its own code, and images and movies make themselves - verifying someone’s identity is vital to knowing WHO has actually done WHAT."
He added that, "in a business context, organizations are increasingly looking to reap the benefits of generative AI, and Gartner expects at least 35% of organizations to utilize gen AI as part of their identity fabric functions by 2025. That is a lot of businesses in a short space of time."
"Such a pace of activity means that businesses need tech that removes administrative burdens to deliver better user experiences (which has really been the success story of gen AI), while still protecting organizations against sophisticated AI-powered attacks."
