All 2026 Conference Sessions

Gartner Identity & Access Management Summit 2026 covers the full IAM lifecycle, including:

• IAM program management and leadership
• Access management, authentication and authorization
• Identity governance and administration (IGA)
• Privileged access management (PAM)
• Customer IAM (CIAM)
• Machine IAM and nonhuman identities
• Identity verification
• Identity threat detection and response (ITDR)
• Zero trust and identity-first security
• Governing AI and agentic AI
• IAM architecture and identity fabrics
• Identity resilience and observability
• IAM data quality and analytics
• Vendor selection, market trends and technology strategy

The conference is specifically designed for IAM and cybersecurity leaders looking for actionable, research-backed insights addressing their biggest organizational priorities.

In this track, you’ll learn how to update the way you build trust, manage authority, and manage digital identity to boost both security and business success. Key topics include IAM strategy, program management, organizational alignment, and positioning for the future.

Gartner Identity & Access Management Summit 2026 addresses modern workforce, partner and customer access management, including:

• Authentication modernization
• Single sign-on (SSO)
• Runtime authorization
• Identity federation and standards
• Role-based access control (RBAC)
• Attribute-based and policy-based access control
• Partner IAM
• Customer IAM architectures
• Passwordless and password policy strategies
• Access management for AI agents
• Workforce access management market trends
• Secure service desk authentication and recovery processes

IGA is a set of tools and processes that manage the complete lifecycle of digital identities and control who has access to what across your organization's on-premises, cloud, and hybrid environments. IGA brings visibility, control and auditability to identity sprawl. 

Gartner IAM Summit features extensive IGA coverage, with sessions covering topics including:

• Modern IGA platforms
• Continuous certification and access reviews
• Machine identity governance
• AI-enhanced IGA
• IGA architecture design
• Governance for AI agents
• Microsoft Copilot governance
• IGA market trends and vendor evolution
• Risk-based access certification

Research-backed sessions at Gartner Identity & Access Management Summit position identity as the foundation of zero-trust strategies. Attendees will get insight into:

• Applying zero-trust principles directly to IAM
• Enforcing least-privilege access
• Improving authentication assurance through MFA
• Strengthening identity verification
• Adopting modern identity standards and federation technologies
• Securing workforce, partner and machine identities
• Implementing adaptive trust and continuous authorization models

Sessions including Use Zero-Trust Principles to Improve IAM, Workshop: Embracing Modern Identity Standards, Ask the Analyst: Making the Zero-Trust Maturity Model Work for Your Organization and multiple access management sessions help attendees implement identity-centric security strategies.

Because of the continued proliferation of AI agents and the explosion of machine identities, AI, agentic AI and machine IAM are core topics being discussed at Gartner Identity & Access Management Summit 2026. Attendees will dive deep into the governance of AI agents, deepfake defense, AI-ready IAM operating models, AI security architecture and more. 

Example sessions include:

• How AI Innovations Are Transforming IAM
• AI Agents Need Their Own Identity
• Prepare for the Rise of AI Agent Identity
• Secure AI Agents Before They Go Rogue
• How to Secure and Govern M365 Copilot and Agents at Scale

An identity-first business strategy repositions identity as the central control plane for both cybersecurity and business operations. This shifts organizations away from obsolete perimeter-based defenses to a model where identity validation, context awareness, and continuous adaptive controls become the foundation for protecting access and enabling agility. 

Adopting an identity-first security strategy transforms IAM from a siloed security function into a strategic lever that hardens security posture while improving operational speed. By automating routine tasks, providing real-time visibility, and aligning access controls with business dynamics, organizations reduce breach risk while improving user experience and operational resilience

Sessions such as Improve IAM Architecture by Embracing 10 Identity Fabric Principles and IAM Planning Guide: Planning for Your Future Identity-First Security Architecture explore these benefits in depth.

Key 2027 IAM and cybersecurity trends covered at Gartner Identity & Access Management Summit 2026 include:

• AI agent identity and agentic IAM
• Governance of nonhuman and machine identities
• Identity threat detection and response (ITDR)
• Identity visibility and intelligence platforms (IVIP)
• Runtime authorization and fine-grained access controls
• Identity-first security architectures
• AI-powered IAM automation
• Decentralized identity adoption
• Post-quantum cryptography impacts on identity systems
• Deepfake-resistant identity verification
• Aligning IAM and cybersecurity strategies

Gartner Identity & Access Management Summit offers three full days of IAM-focused sessions that feature deep discussions and practical guidance on the topics that IAM leaders are working through every day. Gartner Security & Risk Management Summit provides a more strategic, high-level look at IAM topics through the lens of cybersecurity. 

Gartner IAM Summit is the place where IAM leaders across sectors come to hear the latest analyst-backed insights and trade strategies on technical topics like:

• IGA
• PAM
• Access management
• CIAM
• Machine identities
• Identity verification
• IAM architecture
• IAM vendor selection
• AI agent governance
• IAM operating models and leadership

Gartner Identity & Access Management Summit offers access to 95+ leading IAM technology solution providers in the Exhibit Showcase. Additionally, the 2026 agenda includes many sessions offering market insights, including:

• Market Insights for Privileged Access Management
• Market Insights for Identity Verification
• Market Insight for Workforce Access Management
• Market Insights for CIAM
• IGA Market Insights: AI, Automation and Identity Governance in a Distributed World

One of the things that makes Gartner Identity & Access Management Summit such an impactful experience is direct access to Gartner analysts. In a dedicated one-on-one meeting*, Gartner IAM analysts can give personalized guidance that helps attendees to:

• Validate IAM strategies and roadmaps
• Work through unique organizational challenges
• Compare technology approaches
• Implement best practices
• Understand emerging trends and technologies

More than 25 Gartner IAM and cybersecurity analysts will be on-site participating in sessions, roundtables*, workshops*, Ask-the-Analyst sessions* and one-on-one meetings* that give attendees actionable takeaways to make more informed IAM strategy, architecture and technology decisions.

_{*Preregistration is required. These sessions are available to end users only.}