On Thursday, Okta announced its intention to acquire Permiso Security, a startup focused on AI identity security. This move indicates Okta’s belief in a rising need to protect AI agents and machine identities as businesses increasingly integrate autonomous software into their operations.
The financial details of the acquisition remain undisclosed, but sources indicate that the deal is estimated to be valued at nearly $200 million, largely in cash. While a spokesperson for Okta did not contest this figure, they refrained from providing additional details about the agreement.
Okta anticipates finalizing the acquisition in the third quarter of its fiscal year 2027, pending standard closing conditions.
This acquisition reflects a broader trend among identity management companies, moving beyond simple user verification at login to ongoing scrutiny of what users, applications, and AI agents do once they have secured access to a network. The growing integration of AI in business operations has heightened the competition to protect machine identities.
Founded in stealth mode in 2022, Permiso has developed technologies that allow security teams to detect unusual activities within cloud environments after access has been granted to users or applications. The startup has recently broadened its platform to include monitoring of AI agents and other machine identities.
Co-founders Paul Nguyen and Jason Martin, both of whom previously worked at FireEye, have positioned Permiso to focus on identifying attacks that exploit stolen or compromised identities within cloud infrastructure. In April, they launched SandyClaw, a platform designed to evaluate the capabilities of AI agents in a controlled environment to detect malicious behavior before deployment.
This acquisition enhances Okta’s commitment to securing AI agents and other non-human identities, complementing its primary identity management functions.
“With Permiso, we are enriching Okta’s identity security suite with established identity threat detection and response tools, along with an outstanding research and security team that will bolster our capabilities in threat detection and prevention,” stated Okta’s chief product officer, Ely Kahn, in a prepared remark.
To date, Permiso has secured approximately $29 million in funding, which includes an $18.5 million Series A round in April 2024, led by Altimeter Capital. Sources suggest that this Series A funding round valued the Palo Alto-based startup at around $80 million post-money.
