Agentic AI is being positioned as the next leap in identity security. But the hardest part of identity, the disconnected apps and manual processes at the last mile, is exactly where AI alone falls short and where attackers gain their biggest advantage. Nearly half of enterprise applications still fall outside traditional identity systems, managed through spreadsheets, email, and help-desk tickets.
What is identity's last mile problem?
The last mile is the set of applications your identity provider can't reach, the disconnected apps with no SSO, SCIM, or API. They sit outside centralized identity, so access is handled manually, which is slow, inconsistent, and hard to audit. It comes down to a simple binary: either your identity provider sees the app, or it doesn't.
Can agentic AI solve the disconnected app problem?
Not on its own. Agentic AI can help with parts of identity work, but it is nondeterministic by nature: ask it the same thing twice and you can get different answers. That is the opposite of what a security control needs. Agentic AI does not replace the deterministic controls that access decisions depend on, and used carelessly it can widen the disconnected-app gap rather than close it.
Why do disconnected apps need deterministic automation?
Access to disconnected apps has to run the same way every single time. Provisioning, deprovisioning, and credential changes are workflows where a different result on a different day is a security incident. That is why the last mile calls for deterministic automation, not nondeterministic AI, so every action is repeatable and auditable.
How do you close the last mile of identity?
By extending your existing identity controls into the disconnected apps they can't reach today, and automating the manual work deterministically. Cerby completes the identity stack rather than replacing it, bringing disconnected apps inside your identity perimeter so the same policies apply everywhere, and AI is used only where it genuinely helps.
What you'll learn in this session
- Real-world breach scenarios linked to disconnected applications
- What agentic AI can and cannot solve today
- How to extend identity lifecycle management into disconnected apps
- How deterministic automation replaces manual processes and closes blind spots
- What it takes to bring every application inside your identity perimeter
Presenter
Matt Chiodi, Chief Strategy Officer, Cerby
