SAN FRANCISCO – March 19, 2024 – Okta Ventures, the venture investment arm of Okta, a leading provider of identity and access management solutions, proudly introduces "The Identity 25," an initiative that shines a spotlight on the trailblazers in the burgeoning field of digital identity. This inaugural report is a testament to the collective efforts of innovators who are tirelessly working towards building simpler, more secure, and scalable identity-centric technologies.
In a world where every digital experience, from website logins to e-commerce transactions to voting, is rooted in identity management, "The Identity 25" aims to recognize and elevate emerging leaders who are enhancing identity, security, and privacy for businesses, consumers, and global citizens.
This year's Identity 25 list is a diverse compilation of academics, activists, public servants, entrepreneurs, standard-setters, and technology pioneers. Working across various disciplines and capacities, these individuals contribute to making the world a safer place to live, work, and transact.
The Identity 25 Honorees:
- Solomon Adote, Chief Security Officer, State of Delaware
- Marie Austenaa, Head of Digital Identity, Visa
- Alex Blania, CEO and Co-Founder, Tools for Humanity
- John Bradley, Senior Principal Architect, Yubico
- Christiann Brand, Product Manager, Identity and Security, Google
- Sarah Cecchetti, Head of Product, Cedar Policy Language, AWS
- Armon Dadgar, Co-Founder and CTO, HashiCorp
- Pamela Dingle, Director of Identity Standards, Microsoft
- André Ferraz, Co-Founder and CEO, Incognia
- Jonathan Finkelstein, Founder and CEO, Credly, SVP Workforce Skills, Pearson
- Rep. Bill Foster, Member, United States House of Representatives from the 11th District of Illinois
- Ajay Gupta, Chief Digital Information Officer, California Department of Motor Vehicles
- Alexis Hancock, Director of Engineering, Electronic Frontier Foundation
- Dick Hardt, Founder and CEO, Hellō
- Ashish Jain, Chief Product Officer, Arkose Labs
- Tom Kemp, Author, Containing Big Tech
- Vittorio Bertocci, Principal Architect of AuthO and board director, OpenID
- Anna Lysyanskaya, Professor of Computer Science, Brown University
- Eve Maler, President and Founder, Venn Factory
- Caryn Seidman Becker, Chair and CEO, CLEAR
- Mark Straub, CEO, Smile ID
- Paul Syverson, Mathematician, U.S. Naval Research Laboratory
- Atul Tulshibagwale, CTO, SGNL
- Pramod Varma, Former Chief Architect, Aadhaar
- Kristina Yasuda, Identity Solution Architect, SPRIND, German Federal Agency of Disruptive Innovation
"The Identity 25 is an initiative designed to recognize the leading lights in the growing Identity space. With this inaugural report, Okta Ventures seeks to elevate the emerging leaders who are working together to improve Identity, security, and privacy for businesses and their clients, for consumers, and for global citizens," said Austin Arensberg, Senior Director Okta Ventures.
“The number of passionate people driving innovation in the field of identity and access management is staggering to me. Working with amazing folks on this list has been one of the best parts of my career, and I'm excited to be listed alongside them. The folks on this list have made a resounding impact in people's daily experience of privacy, safety, and identity. This field rewards people with boundless determination, and I hope that by sharing the stories of these accomplished visionaries, we can inspire young professionals to move the field forward,” said Sarah Cecchetti, Head of Product, Cedar Policy Language at AWS.
The honorees on this year's Identity 25 list are actively involved in creating laws to thwart identity criminals, advocating for individual rights and privacy, combating fraud and abuse, developing new technologies, teaching strong identity principles to the next generation of leaders, and setting standards for a safe, interoperable digital world. This is honorable in an increasingly complex world with new challenges like AI-enabled fraudsters and a plethora of new devices leading to a larger attack surface that makes the struggle to implement Identity solutions increasingly difficult.
As we navigate the complexities of an ever-expanding digital world, these brilliant innovators are only beginning to develop the systems of tomorrow, and they will undoubtedly continue to create and inspire solutions that challenge our current predictions. With "The Identity 25," Okta honors the magnitude of their achievements and the depth of their commitment as they advance identity standards, technology, and processes to better the lives of our shared global digital community. To explore "The Identity 25" report and learn more about the incredible individuals shaping the future of digital identity, visit https://www.okta.com/resources/datasheet-the-identity-25/.
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