IAM Trends 2026: what CISOs need to prepare for

IAM trends for 2026 point to a reality that few CISOs are prepared to face: today, identities have become the primary entry point for attackers. If your IAM strategies aren’t evolving, the next security breach is only a matter of time. 

 

This isn’t just a perception: 80 non-human identities for every human identity, 99% of accounts with excessive privileges, and 66% of credentials compromised in less than 1 minute. These figures reflect the shift taking place in IAM away from the traditional model.

 

The new landscape demands unified governance, continuous discovery, and control over human and non-human identities. In an increasingly fragmented environment, the priority is no longer to add more layers, but to have an IAM architecture capable of bringing order to chaos, connecting the scattered, and turning complexity into control.

Added to this is the evolution of audit and compliance frameworks: NHI inventories, automatic credential rotation, and control of secrets exposed in code are no longer just best practices. In some sectors, they are becoming auditable requirements.

 

In this context, we review the three IAM trends that will most impact the day-to-day work of CISOs in 2026.

IAM Trends you shouldn’t overlook in 2026

1. Non-human identities: inventory, continuous discovery, and lifecycle management

 

Non-human identities have become one of the top risks for CISOs. Their proliferation across APIs, service accounts, automations, workloads, and CI/CD pipelines is expanding the attack surface, yet many organizations lack real visibility into them.

The priority for 2026 will be twofold: maintaining an up-to-date inventory and implementing continuous discovery mechanisms. It is not enough to know which identities exist today; it is necessary to detect new identities, excessive permissions, exposed credentials, and orphaned accounts in real time.

This must be complemented by automated lifecycle management, including expiration policies, immediate offboarding, and credential rotation. Because an uncontrolled NHI is not just a technical account: it can become an open door within the organization.

2. AI applied to IAM: detection, context, and more automated governance

AI has brought about deepfakes and hyper-realistic phishing, but it is also establishing itself as part of the solution. In IAM, its value lies in helping to detect anomalies in real time, analyze historical patterns, and make more dynamic access decisions.

This makes it possible to identify suspicious behavior, detect “impossible logins,” adjust authentication levels based on context, and anticipate risks before they escalate.

For CISOs, the shift isn’t just about using AI, but about integrating it into a broader governance strategy, one capable of continuously monitoring identities and automating decisions without losing control.

3. Simpler, more measurable, and more resilient IAM architectures

The evolution of IAM in 2026 also involves simplification. Organizations no longer need disconnected tools, but rather architectures capable of integrating IGA, AM, and PAM from a single point of control.

This convergence helps reduce blind spots, automate recertifications, improve account lifecycle management, and align identity management with models such as Identity Threat Detection & Response (ITDR).

At the same time, we will see the rise of passwordless models based on FIDO2, passkeys, and biometrics, with credentials that are more resistant to phishing and less reliant on traditional passwords.

But this evolution will also need to be measured. CISOs will have to demonstrate the value of IAM using specific metrics: the percentage of identities protected with phishing-resistant authentication, the number of orphaned service accounts, average detection time, or average containment time.

By 2026, a robust IAM strategy will not only be one that provides greater protection, but also one that enables continuous demonstration of control.

 

Actionable checklist: are you ready for the 2026 IAM trends? 

These questions can help you assess the maturity of your IAM model:

1. Non-Human Identities (NHIs)

• [ ] Do I have an automated inventory for NHIs?
• [ ] Is there an automatic offboarding process when a service or application is decommissioned?
• [ ] Do I have visibility into which NHIs have excessive permissions?
• [ ] Do I have alerts configured for anomalous behavior in NHIs?

2. AI and adaptive response

• [ ] Does my identity platform integrate IGA, AM, and PAM into a single dashboard, or do I have disconnected tools that don’t communicate with each other?
• [ ] Have I integrated my identity management with my threat detection protocols (ITDR)?
• [ ] What percentage of critical users still rely on traditional passwords?
• [ ] Have I implemented FIDO2 standards or passkeys to eliminate the possibility of credential interception?
• [ ] Can I demonstrate with data how much risk has been reduced thanks to my IAM strategy?

If any of these questions have revealed a blind spot in your IAM strategy, now is a good time to address it. Tell us about your environment, and we’ll show you how Soffid can help you tackle exactly those issues.

At Soffid, we help organizations manage identities by simplifying the complex. Shall we discuss how to simplify your IAM strategy before complexity becomes a problem?

If you’d like to discuss your specific situation, please contact us and let’s talk.