Research Report · 2026

The 2026 IT Identity Trends Report.

Survey data from 1,500 IT leaders on identity, devices, AI agents, and the year ahead — plus 30 customer-scan datasets you can't get anywhere else.

Key findings

The numbers that matter.

63%

of IT leaders say AI agents are now in production at their organization

median number of AI tools per organization (vs. 6 IT thinks they have)

5×

more identity events to manage than three years ago

82%

plan to consolidate identity + device tools within 18 months

01
The agent-identity tipping point
Why 2026 is the year AI agents stop being an experiment and start being an audit risk.
02
Consolidation reaches a peak
The shape and pace of the move from five tools to one.
03
Passkeys, finally
Adoption data and the deployment patterns that actually shipped.
04
Shadow AI vs. sanctioned AI
Discovery data from 30 customer scans — and what governance models work.
05
What IT leaders need from their board
Survey data on budget, hiring, and the conversations IT teams want with the C-suite.