Okta Launches Customer Identity Cloud for GenAI Applications

Okta,  a leader in the identity and access management (IAM) market, has introduced a new Customer Identity Cloud product to help developers and organisations secure identity within Generative AI applications.

The new features allow Okta customers to implement secure identity standards more easily for typical patterns in GenAI applications, improving the process of handling sensitive user data and permissions. 

As generative AI becomes more widely adopted, AI spending is projected to grow from $20 billion in 2024 to over $200 billion by 2028. Given potential risks like data misuse and security vulnerabilities, the rise of AI agents and their integration into various applications underscores the need for secure identity measures.

Okta’s solution includes user authentication, third-party API integration, and async authentication, allowing on-demand user approvals of AI-generated actions when users are away from their screens.

The Auth for GenAI product provides fine-grained authorization, ensuring AI systems only access information users can see. This feature is especially relevant as retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) becomes more common in GenAI apps, protecting against unintended disclosure of sensitive data.

“Our new product, Auth for GenAI, enables application builders to enjoy securing their GenAI apps with the developer and user experience Auth0 is known for,” said Shiven Ramji, President of Customer Identity Cloud at Okta.

Okta’s developer portal, another upcoming innovation, focuses on making APIs ‘AI-ready’ by ensuring secure access for developers and their partners.

In addition to Auth for GenAI, Okta plans to launch a Developer Portal to facilitate the secure exposure of APIs, making products AI-ready. The portal aims to assist companies in accessing APIs securely.

Other innovations include a Universal Logout feature, which automatically terminates user sessions across applications upon logout, and self-service options for Single Sign-On (SSO) and SCIM, enabling IT administrators to set up configurations independently.