Agent identity is the digital identity of an AI agent, used to authenticate the agent, bind it to the human or organization it acts for, and govern what it is allowed to do. As agents begin to act autonomously across systems, giving them their own governed identity becomes essential.

An agent acting on your behalf is neither simply "you" nor an anonymous bot. It needs to be identifiable in its own right, and provably linked to the user who authorized it.

Why agents need their own identity

If an agent transacts using a user’s raw credentials, there is no way to tell agent actions from human ones, no way to limit the agent specifically, and no way to revoke just the agent if it misbehaves. A distinct agent identity fixes this: the agent authenticates as itself, is cryptographically bound to its principal (the user or organization), and can be granted narrow, revocable authority. It is a specialized case of non-human identity, with the added twist of acting for a human.

What it enables

With agent identity in place, a system can verify that an agent is legitimate and belongs to a real user, grant it tightly scoped, often short-lived permissions (delegated authority and just-in-time authorization), monitor its behavior for signs of hijack or malice, and revoke it without disrupting the user. This is foundational for safe agentic commerce and for defending against agentic fraud.

Frequently asked questions

What is agent identity?

The digital identity of an AI agent, used to authenticate it and bind it to the user or organization it acts for.

Why do AI agents need their own identity?

So agent actions are distinguishable, limitable, and revocable, rather than hidden behind a user’s raw credentials.

How does agent identity relate to non-human identity?

It’s a specialized non-human identity, with the added requirement of being bound to the human it represents.

Related: Non-Human Identity (NHI) · Machine Identity · AI Agents / Agentic AI · Delegated Authority · Fine-Grained Authorization (FGA)