Descope Launches Agentic Identity Hub 3.0 for AI Security
Descope Inc., a company specializing in customer and agentic identity solutions, has unveiled the third iteration of its Agentic Identity Hub, designed specifically to enhance security for artificial intelligence agents within organizations. This upgraded version addresses what Descope identifies as a concerning trend known as the shadow AI problem, where employees are rapidly adopting and creating AI agents. These actions occur at a pace that outstrips the ability of security and IT teams to effectively monitor and catalog the various agents being utilized, many of which operate on shared, long-term credentials lacking defined ownership.
Rising Adoption of AI Among Employees
According to the 2026 Data Breach Investigations Report by Verizon Communications Inc., the use of AI on corporate devices has proliferated, with 45% of employees now relying on these technologies. Alarmingly, approximately two-thirds of these employees access AI services through personal accounts, raising significant cybersecurity concerns regarding data protection and privacy.
Streamlined Agent Onboarding Process
To facilitate proper oversight of AI agents, Descope has introduced an Agent Onboarding Portal that mandates employees to formally request permission to utilize AI agents. This process begins with a self-service catalog detailing the intended connections, including specific data sources and Model Context Protocol (MCP) servers. No AI agent is provisioned until a reviewer has granted approval, ensuring that every assigned agent is tied to an accountable owner with clearly defined access parameters. Descope emphasizes that the onboarding workflow is streamlined to discourage any circumvention of established protocols.
Integrating Security into AI Operations
Many of the AI agents being utilized in workplaces were developed externally, making them difficult for in-house security teams to monitor effectively. With the new version of the Agentic Identity Hub, Descope offers native integration with MCP gateways, including the open-source agentgateway project from the Agentic AI Foundation. This integration establishes a unified identity and policy framework that encompasses all agents and MCP servers, including those from third-party providers like OpenAI’s ChatGPT.
Enhancing Security with Short-Lived Client Secrets
Another critical enhancement in Agentic Identity Hub 3.0 addresses the vulnerability posed by static client secrets, which can easily leak into code repositories and are seldom changed. The updated authentication mechanism allows agents to utilize short-lived assertions signed with a private key that remains on the client side, greatly reducing the risk of exposure.
Streamlined Access Management for Internal Agents
For internal agents, Descope provides functionality akin to single sign-on (SSO), allowing sign-ins through existing corporate identity providers. This method simplifies access to each MCP server without necessitating additional logins or consent screens, with policy evaluations occurring for every request to ensure compliance and security.
Flexible Access Control for Administrators
Administrators are equipped with enhanced control features, allowing them to retract permissions for any agent from a centralized location without the need to reissue credentials. This is facilitated by identity assertion grants, a fundamental component that also supports the Cross-App Access protocol, which Descope began integrating into its platform in September 2025.
Descope co-founder and CEO Slavik Markovich noted that initial traction for the hub was primarily driven by customer-facing agents. However, a recurring issue highlighted by customers was the rapid deployment of internal agents by employees, often outpacing the ability to track and manage them properly. The Agentic Identity Hub is now positioned to manage authentication and access controls for hundreds of MCP servers and more than 1 million agent identities, underscoring its capability to significantly bolster enterprise security in an era of escalating cyber threats.
As a venture-backed startup, Descope recently completed a $35 million extension of its seed funding round in September 2025, bringing its total funding to $88 million, with investors including Notable Capital, Lightspeed Venture Partners, and Dell Technologies Capital.