Three insights you may have missed from theCUBE’s coverage of Okta’s Oktane event

Okta Inc. used its Oktane event to push AI agent governance into the runtime path, with the company's Agent Gateway expanding Okta's role from granting access to evaluating what agents attempt to do, according to Ric Smith, Okta's president of products and technology. "That is a very different transition for Okta," Smith told theCUBE, adding that being inline "means that we can do a lot more decision-making in terms of what we authorize." Okta senior vice president and deputy chief security officer Charlotte Wylie said the industry-formed Blueprint Alliance aims to supply a reference architecture for securing the entire agentic stack, while theCUBE Research principal analyst Krista Case raised the open question of which platform holds final authority when agent controls conflict across systems.

Three insights you may have missed from theCUBE’s coverage of Okta’s Oktane event AI agent governance is moving identity security https://siliconangle.com/2026/09/22/oktas-oktane-2026-event-identity-security-oktane/ into the flow of work. As agents call tools, delegate tasks and act across applications, enterprises need controls that follow those actions beyond an initial login. The challenge is making those controls work across systems while preserving the business processes agents support. The limits of individual security platforms emerged as a recurring concern during Okta Inc.’s Oktane event https://www.okta.com/oktane/ . As agents operate across connected systems, enterprises face questions that extend beyond granting or revoking access https://siliconangle.com/2026/09/24/ai-agents-security-thecubes-keynote-analysis-oktane/ , according to Krista Case https://www.linkedin.com/in/krista-case/ , principal analyst at theCUBE Research. “What I am interested to see as it gets rolled out and as we start to talk with customers about it is if there are conflicting insights across these platforms about an action that needs to be taken,” she said. “For example, who is going to have the authority at the end of the day, and where is that authority going to live in this tech stack?” Case and co-host Rebecca Knight https://www.linkedin.com/in/rebecca-m-knight-3667a94/ spoke with Okta executives, partners and customers during theCUBE’s coverage of Okta’s Oktane event https://www.thecube.net/events/okta/okta-oktane-2026 , as part of an exclusive broadcast on theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s livestreaming studio. The discussions examined how enterprises are putting AI agents to work while maintaining control over their access and actions. Disclosure below. Here’s the complete video keynote analysis with Krista Case and Rebecca Knight: Here are three insights you may have missed from theCUBE’s coverage of Okta’s Oktane event: Insight 1: AI agent governance requires shared architecture and runtime controls. An agent’s work can span applications and security platforms, making consistent protection dependent on how those systems connect. The Blueprint Alliance https://www.okta.com/newsroom/press-releases/industry-leaders-form-the-blueprint-alliance/ brings vendors together around a reference architecture intended to help customers secure that environment https://siliconangle.com/2026/09/28/okta-advances-shared-architecture-agentic-ai-security-oktane/ , according to Charlotte Wylie https://www.linkedin.com/in/charlotte-wylie/ pictured , senior vice president and deputy chief security officer of Okta. “Rather than trying to solve that problem alone, there is a recognition that we have to galvanize as an industry to solve this problem for our customers at a speed that they are scrambling to run after,” she said. “We want to make sure that we provide an architecture, a referenceable position for how to use the technology that we all offer in a way that we can secure the entire agentic stack.” Shared architecture also needs a point where controls can govern attempted actions. Okta’s move into the runtime path https://siliconangle.com/2026/09/29/agent-gateway-lets-okta-police-ai-runtime-actions-oktane/ through its Agent Gateway https://www.okta.com/blog/product-innovation/agent-gateway-runtime-governance/ expands the identity provider’s role from granting access to evaluating what agents seek to do, according to Ric Smith https://www.linkedin.com/in/ricsmith/ , president of products and technology at Okta. “That is a very different transition for Okta,” he told theCUBE. “We had not been inline, so with us moving in that direction, it means that we can do a lot more decision-making in terms of what we authorize.” Inside Okta, that architectural challenge takes a practical form. Dex https://www.okta.com/newsroom/articles/lessons-from-securing-our-digital-workforce/ gives employees access to specialized agents https://siliconangle.com/2026/09/24/okta-turns-dex-ai-agent-into-customer-zero-proving-ground-oktane/ without multiplying the interfaces they must navigate, according to Jenna Cline https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennacline/ , senior vice president of technology, data and intelligence at Okta. “Dex can call upon the right sub-agent. That agent is scoped to only work on certain things, so it’s very secure, and it’s very efficient because it does one thing really well,” she said. “But Dex can do that for other agents; it can do that for the expense team and it can do that for our IT help desk.” Here’s theCUBE’s complete video interview with Jenna Cline: Insight 2: Securing AI agents requires cooperation beyond any single vendor. AI agent governance depends on access decisions carrying across systems https://siliconangle.com/2026/09/28/1password-ties-ai-agent-access-individual-tasks-oktane/ . Okta and AgileBits Inc., doing business as 1Password, use shared identity standards to preserve an agent’s verified identity and authorization context. 1Password’s Credential Broker https://1password.com/press/2026/june/credential-broker supplies secrets without exposing them to the agent or the underlying model, according to Nancy Wang https://www.linkedin.com/in/wangnancy/ , chief technology officer of 1Password. “Just like you would verify whatever an intern does before you allow them to move on to the next project, it’s the same thing with agents,” Wang told theCUBE. “You just want that agent to prove that it actually finished its last task with the right level of permissions, doing the right thing before you allow it to move on to the next task.” That cooperation also matters when an agent’s behavior requires intervention. ServiceNow Inc. maps agents to the business processes they support and is working with Okta on agent identities and session tokens https://siliconangle.com/2026/09/28/servicenow-ties-agent-containment-business-context-oktane . Those connections inform decisions about when and how to contain an agent, according to Bhakti Pitre https://www.linkedin.com/in/bhakti-pitre-04192a8/ , vice president of AI platform security product at ServiceNow. “Everybody in the industry needs to come together and be each other’s friends or frenemies,” she said. “If the AI needs to be at the scale where it is democratized for every person to use it, then every vendor needs to come together and play their part.” Here’s theCUBE’s complete video interview with Nancy Wang: Insight 3: Simpler infrastructure and established governance provide a foundation for AI agents. The Professional Golfers’ Association of America relies on Okta and Auth0 https://www.okta.com/okta-and-auth0/ as part of an architecture that has eliminated traditional infrastructure layers https://siliconangle.com/2026/09/24/the-pga-of-america-secures-identity-security-oktane/ , including data centers and a corporate network. Those choices help direct resources toward technology that serves members and customers, according to Kevin Scott https://www.linkedin.com/in/thatkevinjscott/ , chief technology officer of the PGA of America. “We don’t have much of a team — it’s small, it is lean,” he told theCUBE. “I don’t mean to be reductive, but if we were to spend half of the technology budget on administering systems, none of our customers are ever going to come along and say, ‘Thank you for that.’” At Vanderbilt University, the emphasis is on applying established governance to AI agent identities. The university uses OneVU, powered by Okta https://www.vanderbilt.edu/cybersecurity/services/onevu/ , for single sign-on and is weighing how institutional oversight should accommodate another kind of identity https://siliconangle.com/2026/09/25/vanderbilt-university-extends-identity-governance-ai-agents-oktane/ , according to Shane Callahan https://www.linkedin.com/in/shane-callahan-mba-a0b9003/ , chief information officer of Vanderbilt. “We’re treating AI like it’s a brand-new thing. But really, you’re still talking about identity data in another technology tool,” he said. “You don’t have to recreate everything. If you have a governance process and a technology intake program, do that, use that.” Here’s theCUBE’s complete video interview with Kevin Scott: To watch more of theCUBE’s coverage of Okta’s Oktane event https://www.thecube.net/events/okta/okta-oktane-2026 , here’s our complete video playlist: Disclosure: TheCUBE is a paid media partner for Okta’s Oktane event. 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