Okta‘s “Businesses at Work 2026 report“ found that organisations across the Asia Pacific are rapidly adopting AI and automation. However, as non-human identities expand and can outnumber human users by as much as 45 to 1, identity gaps remain.
“As organisations scale AI across the enterprise, we are seeing a fundamental shift in how identity needs to operate,” said Dan Mountstephen, SVP and general manager, APJ at Okta. “We are seeing this play out very clearly across APAC, where organisations are moving quickly to adopt AI, but are still building the governance models needed to support it.”
Identity gaps
The report found that only about 10% of organisations report having comprehensive identity systems capable of managing and securing AI-related identities.
Governance and accountability are the primary challenges, with many organisations still in early stages of defining ownership for AI security.
Key findings include:
- AI adoption is accelerating across APAC: Organisations are embedding AI agents into workflows, customer interactions and core operations.
- Non-human identities are expanding rapidly: AI agents, bots and service accounts are growing at scale across enterprise environments.
- Readiness is lagging: Only around 10% of organisations feel fully equipped to manage and secure non-human identities.
- Governance gaps remain: Many organisations lack clear ownership and accountability for AI security.
- Security priorities are shifting: Identity and access management is becoming critical as organisations scale AI.
Mountstephen added: “The organisations that will lead in this next phase won’t be the ones that move fastest, but the ones that can demonstrate control, accountability and governance as they deploy AI. That’s why identity is becoming the control plane for the modern enterprise, it’s what enables organisations to manage access, enforce policy and maintain trust as environments become more complex.”
