The Identity Conversation Nobody Scripted

Thirty senior IAM practitioners. No slides. No pitch. One room.

442

 

On June 17, 2026, we hosted a live recording of the Identity at the Center podcast at Identiverse in Las Vegas. Jim McDonald and Jeff Steadman ran an open Q&A with senior identity practitioners. Topics ranged from AI identities and access reviews to agentic authentication and what the industry is actually dealing with.

The episode is live. You can pull up a chair now.

More from This Event

What the Room Said at Identiverse

Bart Allan's first-person recap of the night.

READ THE RECAP →

The Mailbag

The questions the room didn't get to, answered by Bart.

GET THE ANSWERS →

Full Episode

Listen to Episode 442 on Identity at the Center.

LISTEN NOW →

Topics practitioners brought to the room

  • AI identities and what governing machine-to-human ratios actually requires.
  • Whether access reviews have a future or are already headed the way of the password.
  • Zero standing privilege: what it looks like to revoke and re-grant access without an approval workflow.
  • Agentic authentication: delegation versus impersonation, and why the difference matters.
  • Vendor relationships and the case for normalizing replacement.
  • Hiring IAM talent when the experience doesn't exist yet.

What's the ratio of AI agents to people?

"Whatever number you pick is already out of date."

Jeff Steadman, Identity at the Center

 

🎤 Listen to the Episode

▶ IDAC #442: Identity After Dark with Bravura Security ~1 hr 20 min
  • AI identities and what governing machine-to-human ratios actually requires
  • Whether access reviews have a future or are already headed the way of the password
  • Zero standing privilege: revoke and re-grant without an approval workflow
  • Agentic authentication: delegation versus impersonation
  • The case for normalizing vendor replacement

🎥 Watch the Full Conversation

WATCH ON YOUTUBE →

Where Reviews and Real-Time Governance Converge

Reviews are reactive. Automated revoke is proactive. The room wanted both working together.

  • Access reviews catch what's already gone wrong.
  • Automated revoke and re-grant close the gap in real time.
  • Together, they replace blanket certifications with policy-driven, usage-based governance.

Get the mailbag

Identity at the Center Episode 442

Identity at the Center (IDAC) is a weekly vendor-neutral podcast about digital identity and IAM. Jim McDonald and Jeff Steadman, both from RSM's Digital Identity practice, have hosted the show for seven years. IDAC reports more than two million downloads.

Episode 442 was recorded live for the first time, with us, at Identiverse 2026 in Las Vegas.

Jim McDonald, co-host of the Identity at the Center podcast

Jim McDonald

Co-Host, Identity at the Center

Hosts IDAC and leads RSM's Digital Identity Advisory Services team. He brings 25 years of IT experience and has delivered IAM programs for organizations across manufacturing and financial services.

Jeff Steadman, co-host of the Identity at the Center podcast

Jeff Steadman

Co-Host, Identity at the Center

Hosts IDAC and leads RSM's Digital Identity consulting practice. He has delivered complex global identity programs for Fortune 100 companies since 2001.

Bart Allan, General Manager at Bravura Security

Bart Allan

Bravura Security

General Manager at Bravura Security. He has spent over a decade in identity, starting in professional services and building large-scale IAM and privileged access programs for enterprise organizations.

Who Should Listen

  • Identity architects governing AI and human identities together.
  • Security leaders preparing for the next access-review audit.
  • IAM teams rethinking how vendor relationships get decided.
  • IT leaders hiring for identity roles the market hasn't defined yet.
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Do you know who has access to what?

Identity at the Center Podcast logo

Keep the Conversation Going

If the conversation sparked questions about your own identity program, we're happy to continue it. No demo, no pitch. Just a conversation.