The five identity categories every IAM program must govern

From employees to AI agents a unified model for governing all identity types under a single policy fabric.

Modern identity programs no longer govern just people. The attack surface has expanded to include systems, automation pipelines, and now autonomous AI agents — all operating across hybrid and cloud environments. Understanding the five identity categories is the foundation for building a Zero Trust architecture that actually holds.

Workforce users


Employees who perform daily business functions are the baseline identity population. They’re the identity category most IGA platforms were built around — but many programs still have gaps in joiner-mover-leaver automation and access certification coverage.

Privileged users

Users with administrative or root-level access represent the highest-risk human identity class. A single compromised privileged account can enable lateral movement across an entire environment. These identities require a separate governance track from standard workforce users.

Third parties

External users — vendors, partners, contractors, and consultants — are among the most consistently over-provisioned and under-governed identity populations. They rarely have an HR record driving lifecycle events, which means access that was granted for a project often persists indefinitely.

Non-human & machine identities (NHI)

Non-human identities are the fastest-growing and least-governed identity class in most enterprise environments. Service accounts, API keys, certificates, and pipeline credentials typically outnumber human identities by 10:1 or more — and most organizations have limited visibility into where they exist or what they can access.

AI agents (NHI-agent)

AI agents are a new identity class — autonomous or semi-autonomous entities capable of executing tasks, making decisions, and interacting with systems and other agents without direct human instruction on each action. They are machine identities, but their capacity for goal-directed behavior and delegation chains demands a governance model that goes beyond standard NHI controls.

As organizations adopt automation and AI, identity becomes the control plane of security.

If you can’t answer “who (or what) has access and why?” in real time you don’t have control.

Identity categories are the first step toward building a secure, scalable, and AI-ready enterprise.

Gabriel Magarino – Senior Security Manager | IAM Evangelist - Experienced leader with over 20 years in the IT and cybersecurity industry, specializing in Identity & Access Management. Expert in Okta, One Identity, SailPoint (IdentityIQ & IdentityNow), OneLogin, Delinea, and CyberArk. Passionate about exploring IAM and emerging technologies, coaching, and training IAM teams. Holds a Master’s in Computer Science and multiple certifications, including Okta Professional & Administration, One Identity Architect & Instructor, SailPoint Identity Now, ITIL, Scrum Master, among others. Currently pursuing a PhD with a focus on Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence.

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