- Palo Alto Networks is a Gartner PAM Leader for the eighth consecutive time, positioned furthest in Completeness of Vision in every report for the category.
- PAM must expand for the AI era: machine identities outnumber humans 109:1, while AI agents and identity-based attacks increase the need to govern all privileged access.
- Idira’s Modern PAM combines vaulted access and zero standing privileges with secrets management, workload security, identity governance, and short-lived identities for workloads and AI agents.
- Palo Alto Networks says its broader security platform adds scale and threat context, helping customers modernize PAM with data-driven guidance, training, and real-time security capabilities.
What the Recognition Means in Daily Operations
Palo Alto Networks says Gartner named it a Leader in Privileged Access Management for the eighth consecutive time and placed it furthest in Completeness of Vision. That recognition signals a strong strategic direction. It does not prove that a product suits every organization. Gartner also cautions that its research does not endorse vendors.
For IT teams, privileged access shows up in ordinary work: an administrator fixes a server, a developer deploys an application, or an automated process retrieves a secret. Modern PAM can help teams control these actions across cloud services and other systems. It can grant access for a task, then remove it when the task ends. Still, teams must check how controls fit their tools, emergency procedures, and employees’ workflows.
Extending Control to AI and Machines
The access challenge now includes service accounts, software workloads, and AI agents—not just employees. Palo Alto Networks cites a ratio of 109 machine identities to every human identity. Each identity can create risk if it holds broad or long-lasting permissions.
Therefore, PAM must do more than store administrator passwords. Teams need to know which identities exist, limit what each one can do, protect the secrets they use, and review their activity. They can start by mapping privileged access and tightening controls in high-risk systems. Then they can expand in stages, while preserving a safe route for urgent work.
Palo Alto Networks’ reported position makes its approach worth evaluating, not adopting automatically. The practical test lies in daily operations: can teams reduce unnecessary access without slowing essential work? That balance can move an organization’s security journey forward as its technology—and its risks—change.
Continue Your Tech Journey
Explore innovations driving the future in Emerging Tech and digital transformation.
Stay inspired by the vast knowledge available on Wikipedia.
Expert Insights Multi
