I love the “CIDO conversation” framing, seeing IAM not just as a shared service but as a strategic product is spot on. But let’s take it even further: true success in IAM isn’t delivered by any single technology or tool, it emerges from a holistic strategy.
Today, most organizations don’t have a CIDO, they have a fractured IAM “child” caught in the middle of two competing parents: security on one side and business agility on the other. Neither is fully aligned on how to raise that child, so IAM ends up shuttled back and forth, bewilderingly undernourished in one area and overprotected in another.
That’s why the CIDO concept is so powerful, it’s the vision of what IAM could look like when unified: a leader who aligns identity strategy with business goals, while also championing privacy, equity, and great user experience. It’s a model for treating IAM as a mission-critical program, not just an afterthought of IT.
Bewildering? Absolutely. But it doesn’t have to stay that way. We need to ask ourselves: has shareholder primacy drowned out the voices of real customers and their needs? Too many orgs still can’t walk and chew gum—they can’t balance security, usability, and strategic value at the same time.
Imagine instead an IAM practice guided by an agentic AI CIDO who ensures every stakeholder—finance, HR, developers, and end‑users—shares ownership of the identity product. That’s when IAM stops being an orphaned service and starts being the backbone of a resilient, customer‑centric enterprise. Thoughts?
I love the “CIDO conversation” framing, seeing IAM not just as a shared service but as a strategic product is spot on. But let’s take it even further: true success in IAM isn’t delivered by any single technology or tool, it emerges from a holistic strategy.
Today, most organizations don’t have a CIDO, they have a fractured IAM “child” caught in the middle of two competing parents: security on one side and business agility on the other. Neither is fully aligned on how to raise that child, so IAM ends up shuttled back and forth, bewilderingly undernourished in one area and overprotected in another.
That’s why the CIDO concept is so powerful, it’s the vision of what IAM could look like when unified: a leader who aligns identity strategy with business goals, while also championing privacy, equity, and great user experience. It’s a model for treating IAM as a mission-critical program, not just an afterthought of IT.
Bewildering? Absolutely. But it doesn’t have to stay that way. We need to ask ourselves: has shareholder primacy drowned out the voices of real customers and their needs? Too many orgs still can’t walk and chew gum—they can’t balance security, usability, and strategic value at the same time.
Imagine instead an IAM practice guided by an agentic AI CIDO who ensures every stakeholder—finance, HR, developers, and end‑users—shares ownership of the identity product. That’s when IAM stops being an orphaned service and starts being the backbone of a resilient, customer‑centric enterprise. Thoughts?
Your next Chief Identity Officer is an AI Agent: https://www.chiefidentityofficer.com