It was an honor to welcome our government partners to the Okta Gov Identity Summit. This event marked a significant milestone: a decade of partnership dedicated to securing our nation's most critical digital infrastructure. Our commitment to the federal mission has never been stronger, and as we look to the next 10 years, we are focused on delivering the secure, neutral, and powerful identity security fabric the US government needs to stay ahead of evolving threats.
The summit illuminated our shared path forward, centered on three foundational themes for government innovation.
1. Mission agility: Modernizing at the speed of readiness
In government, speed and security are not mutually exclusive. A modern identity platform is the engine for both operational readiness and accelerated service delivery. We heard a powerful example of this from Katie Griffin, director of the Defense Manpower Data Center (DMDC). Her team’s successful migration of more than 2.7 million users from a legacy system to the new myAuth platform in less than nine months proves that modernization at scale is achievable. This is a testament to how a flexible, user-centric identity solution can enhance the user experience while meeting the mission’s dynamic needs.
2. Mission distribution: Secure every mission, everywhere
The mission is no longer confined to a single location, and identity security must be just as mobile. Security must follow the user, from the enterprise to the tactical edge. An exposed enterprise is vulnerable, and this challenge is evident across the federal landscape. For example, we discussed the immense scale of the US Postal Service, which operates 31,000 locations and employs 640,000 people. For an organization this distributed, a centralized identity strategy is paramount to ensure that every employee, from a corporate office to a rural post office, has secure and appropriate access.
3. AI in missions: Commanding the agentic workforce
The emergence of AI and agentic workforces introduces a new paradigm for security. As our summit speakers emphasized, we must secure these non-human identities with the same diligence we apply to our human workforce. The autonomy of AI agents requires a fundamental evolution of Zero Trust, with identity as the ultimate control plane. As General Paul Nakasone, former commander of US Cyber Command and director of the NSA (retired), so clearly articulated, we must be able to "observe them, protect them, and control them."
General Nakasone also delivered a stark reminder of the modern threat landscape: "Adversaries today are logging in more than they are breaking in." This underscores that identity is the new front line of cybersecurity. Siloed security tools are no longer sufficient. The future demands a unified, resilient, and adaptive identity infrastructure.
A call to action for a secure future
For 10 years, Okta has been a committed partner in the US government’s identity strategy. As we enter an AI-driven future, our commitment hasn’t changed: to remain a neutral, secure partner that frees everyone to use any technology.
We are immensely grateful for your partnership and dedication to your missions.
Continue the conversation: Watch the Gov ID Summit on demand.
