They don’t carry employee badges, don’t respond to traditional security controls, and often exist outside established governance frameworks. Without the correct permissions put in place, they may have access to business-critical systems, sensitive data and privileged intellectual property.
Today, Ignition Technology is launching The Unseen Workforce, a campaign created to help organisations embrace everything AI can offer, while maintaining visibility, control and accountability of machine identity activity in an increasingly autonomous world.
The opportunity and risk presented by AI
The potential of AI is enormous. But as organisations use it to improve productivity, automate repetitive tasks, accelerate innovation and unlock new insights, it’s not only changing how businesses operate; it’s also changing how cyber criminals operate.
88% of respondents reported that their organisations are now using AI in at least one business function (McKinsey, 2025).
Cybercriminals are increasingly using AI to automate tasks, scale attacks and create more convincing phishing and impersonation campaigns. The threat landscape is becoming faster, more sophisticated and increasingly centred around identity.
The data outlined in CrowdStrike’s 2026 Cyber Threat report, illustrates the challenge:
- 82% of detections in 2025 were malware-free
- AI-enabled adversary activity increased by 89%
- Valid account abuse now accounts for 35% of attacks
- The average eCrime breakout time has fallen to just 29 minutes
Increasingly, attackers aren’t breaking in. They’re logging in. Identity has become the new battleground.
Verifying the unseen workforce
AI Identity is the #1 CISO priority in 2026 (Okta, Global CISO Insights, 2026). As organisations embrace AI assistants, autonomous agents and machine identities at scale, security leaders are increasingly focused on maintaining control over who, and what, can access critical systems and data. The challenge is no longer simply managing user identities. It is governing an entirely new workforce operating across the enterprise.
Every new AI tool requires permissions, access rights and governance. Without proper oversight, organisations risk creating a workforce that operates beyond traditional controls and accountability structures. This raises critical questions for business and technology leaders alike:
- Who, or what, has access to sensitive information?
- What permissions do AI agents have?
- How are those permissions governed?
- Who is accountable when autonomous systems take action?
What were once considered future risks are now present-day realities for organisations embracing AI.
Supporting you to address these challenges
Through our Unseen Workforce campaign activity, we will explore the relationship between AI, identity and cyber resilience, helping partners, vendors and end users navigate one of the most significant technology shifts of our generation.
Throughout the campaign, we will be sharing expert insight through a monthly ‘Ignition on AI’ video series, designed to bring technical and strategic insight and explore the biggest challenges shaping AI adoption.
This will be delivered through our ‘Ignition on AI video series’, our myth-busting blog and social series, playbooks for our key partners, and further educational resources to help organisations, vendors and partners to assess their approach to AI governance.
Artificial Intelligence is creating extraordinary opportunities, but it is also demanding a new approach to governance, security and accountability.
As the workforce evolves beyond people, organisations must ensure they remain in control of who, and what, can access their environments. Because in the age of AI, some of your most important workers may be the ones you never see. We’re here is advise on why identity security offers the control layer every organisation needs to embrace.
Welcome to the unseen workforce, Trust nothing. Verify everything.
