The OpenID Foundation (OIDF), a pioneer in open identity standards, and the body behind identity protocols used by billions of people worldwide, announced the formation of the Artificial Intelligence Identity Management (AIIM) Community Group. 

This new initiative addresses a critical gap in the advancing artificial intelligence (AI) landscape. Bringing together recognised pioneers and security experts from across the AI and identity ecosystems, its goal is to bridge the growing disconnect between advancing artificial intelligence systems and established identity management practices.

Specific needs of AI agents

As AI systems expand across social interactions, digital commerce, financial services, and the broader digital ecosystem, the separation between AI and identity development presents significant challenges around privacy, security, and interoperability.

Current standards only partially address the specific requirements of AI agents, particularly around delegated authority, agent authentication, authorisation propagation between agents, and agent discovery and governance.

Why this matters now

The AIIM Community Group has arrived at a critical stage, as AI integration spans multiple dimensions of digital infrastructure. Without appropriate identity management frameworks, AI deployments face substantial security vulnerabilities and interoperability challenges that could undermine confidence in AI systems.

"The pace of AI development is accelerating rapidly, but we must ensure that security and privacy remain foundational," said Atul Tulshibagwale, co-chair of the AIIM Community Group and CTO at SGNL. "This Community Group provides the essential forum where AI innovators and identity experts can collaborate to establish secure, trusted frameworks for AI deployment. We're here to enable responsible innovation at scale."

Identity management frameworks

Co-chair Tobin South, AI Agents Lead at WorkOS and Research Fellow at Stanford University, emphasised the significance: "We're seeing AI agents making decisions and taking actions on behalf of users at unprecedented scale. Without proper identity management frameworks, we risk building systems without solid foundations."

"The AIIM Community Group will help establish the robust infrastructure that AI systems require to operate securely and interoperably."

AI and identity communities

Co-Chair Jeff Lombardo, Principal Identity Specialist at AWS, highlighted the collaborative approach: "What distinguishes this initiative is our commitment to creating an open forum where conversations currently happening in isolation can converge."

"Our goal is to develop a comprehensive taxonomy, mental model, and roadmap that advance through multiple standards bodies and forums, leveraging the collective expertise of both AI and identity communities."

Proven leadership in identity standards

The OpenID Foundation's leadership in this space builds upon its established track record in creating interoperable, secure identity standards that scale globally. For example:

• With OpenID Connect now used by billions of people across millions of applications, and FAPI securing open banking and open data in hundreds of implementations worldwide, the foundation brings proven expertise in bridging complex technical communities. 
• OpenID Foundation is also at the forefront of standards work in verifiable credentials (OpenID for Verifiable Presentation and OpenID for Verifiable Credential Issuance) adopted by the European Commission, the UK government, the Swiss Government, the State of California, and many open source projects. 

OpenID Foundation’s existing and emerging standards

The OpenID Foundation’s existing and emerging standards could help underpin emerging AI deployments to support and accelerate their ability to deliver high-quality, robust use cases. 

"The OpenID Foundation has spent nearly two decades developing the standards that enable secure, interoperable identity at internet scale through millions of public and private sector implementations," said Gail Hodges, Executive Director of the OpenID Foundation. 

Partner with the AI community

Hodges added: "Our community can partner with the AI community to identify where existing specifications can help, where gaps need to be addressed, and the most expeditious way to fill those gaps without sacrificing privacy and security.”  

“Regardless of whether the gaps are closed with the OpenID Foundation or in other expert groups, we hope to establish a shared roadmap so that AI systems and use cases can leverage and enhance identity infrastructure for years to come."

Key objectives and deliverables

The AIIM Community Group will focus on five strategic areas:

• Gap identification: mapping areas not currently addressed by existing standards that require focused attention from the identity community.
• Terminology consensus: establishing shared vocabulary to enable clear communication across AI and identity domains.
• Industry engagement: facilitating dialogue with major platform vendors and stakeholders.
• Use case definition: developing agentic AI champion use cases that organisations can reference and implement.
• Regulatory monitoring: tracking government AI regulations that impact identity management.

Open participation and community building

The AIIM Community Group operates as a forum for open discussion protected by intellectual property agreements, removing barriers to participation while ensuring that ideas and work products remain freely available to the global community. The group operates under core principles of respect, privacy through consent, and interoperability, with no participation fees to encourage broad engagement from AI and identity experts worldwide.

Organisations and individuals interested in participating, please visit: Artificial Intelligence Identity Management Community Group - OpenID Foundation where they can sign the Participation Agreement to take part.

Source: [Link]