How SailPoint Leads Agentic AI Security — and What It’s Like to Work Behind the Innovation

Depending on who you ask, agentic AI is equal parts revolutionary and risky. 

On one hand, having teams of AI agents — specialized AI systems that automate specific tasks and work together in cohesion —  can completely transform how tech teams work. On the other hand, every AI agent is potentially a point of vulnerability.

For Jaishree Subramania, senior vice president of product marketing at SailPoint, there are two main questions that every security team leader is asking themselves right now: “How do we keep up?” and, “How do we secure all of these agents we’re deploying?” 

“We’re uniquely positioned to answer both simultaneously,” Subramania said. 

Subramania is a part of the SailPoint team that launched game-changing security products this year. Their most recent product launch, Agent Identity Security, occurred in October, giving customers access to security tools for rolling out agentic AI systems at scale. 

Identity security products are needed now more than ever. 

In September, the first large-scale agentic AI attack was launched by China, a campaign that infiltrated roughly 30 financial firms and government agencies around the world with almost no human oversight. This event was unsettling to both experts and policymakers alike — but proved to the SailPoint team that they were onto something.

“Machine identities already outnumber humans in most enterprises,” Subramania said. “Traditional governance built on static policies can't scale to this complexity.” 

Inside SailPoint’s Strategy for Securing AI Agents at Scale

Mitra Mahdavian, SailPoint’s senior vice president of corporate strategy and product operations, explained that Agent Identity Security allows customers to leverage SailPoint as a single platform for consistent governance for humans, machines and agents.

“Customers can extend SailPoint’s identity governance capabilities to agent identities by onboarding AI agents, tracking human ownership, governing associated service accounts and managing agents’ lifecycle,” Mahdavian said. 

Agent Identity Security was inspired in part by another product launch, seven months prior: Harbor Pilot, a set of AI agents that automate identity security tasks, simplify workflows and provide insights through generative AI prompts.

As Subramania explained, while helping customers use AI agents to improve operations, they recognized that those same clients were deploying thousands of AI agents with little governance.

“Our research showed that 82 percent of organizations already utilizing AI agents are struggling with basic questions: Who owns this agent? What can it access? How do we enforce least privilege?” she said.

After the deployment of Harbor Pilot, SailPoint made the strategic choice to extend their platform so it covers AI agents as a distinct type of identity security. According to Subramania, this meant a hefty — but necessary — investment in R&D.  

“Our most pivotal decision was going all-in on agentic AI as both a tool for customers and as an identity type,” Subramania said. “They need to secure and tackle both sides of the AI governance challenge.” 

Luckily for them, SailPoint is more than up to the task. 

How SailPoint’s AI Leadership Anticipates a Rapidly Expanding Market 

According to SailPoint research, by 2028, a third of all enterprise applications will include agentic AI — a big jump from just one percent in 2024. 

Subramania explained that the SailPoint strategy puts security insights and controls into one panel. 

“Through the SailPoint Platform, we enable enterprises to manage humans and non-humans within a single, unified platform,” Subramania said. “We’re pioneering solutions to govern AI agents as a new identity type most enterprises struggle to manage.”

The SailPoint Platform enables teams to shift from reactive firefighting to proactive risk management, a business strategy expected to pay off in dividends in the coming years.

How Engineering at SailPoint Stays Ahead of the Fast-Moving AI Landscape 

So, how does the SailPoint team keep up with a field that is moving at unprecedented speeds? 

Fuad Rashid, senior vice president of engineering, has a strategy that leans on empowerment and experimentation. 

“The technology is continuing to evolve so quickly that something better is likely to come out within a few weeks,” Rashid said. “We’ve made the decision at SailPoint to enable our teams to experiment with a wide variety of tools so we can stay on top of the latest tech.” 

While some tools will be standardized across the entire engineering org, Rashid said leadership will continue to provide teams with the flexibility, space and budget to experiment with new tools as they become available.

“It’s an exciting time, and SailPoint is uniquely positioned to leverage all this momentum,” Mahdavian added.

In the year ahead, Rashid anticipates rapid market expansion as customers navigate the complexities of AI adoption.

“The launch of AIS earlier this year was a significant step, and our comprehensive roadmap will further solidify our position as the leader in providing secure and observable AI agent implementations,” Rashid said.

What It’s Like to Work at SailPoint

Teammates who join SailPoint can expect ownership and impact.

In product marketing, for example, Subramania shared that teammates play a key role in not just how the product is sold but how it evolves. 

“You'll influence what we build, not just how we sell it,” Subramania said. “You'll work with people who value both strategic thinking and flawless execution. We’re building for long-term market leadership, which means every launch, every piece of enablement and every positioning decision matters.”

Like any fast-growing company, SailPoint moves quickly, but every project tackled is rooted in the mission to secure the modern enterprise, a challenge both inspiring and business-critical for its clients.

“It’s a place where you can do meaningful work in identity security while being surrounded by teammates who are inclusive, helpful and passionate about what they do,”  Mahdavian said.

SailPoint’s values —  innovation, integrity, impact and individuals — aren’t just posters on the wall; they shape how the team collaborates, makes decisions, and supports each other every day. 

“If you’re looking for a culture that values you as a person, challenges you professionally, and lets you contribute to work that truly matters, SailPoint is a great place to build your career,” Mahdavian said.

Frequently Asked Questions