Identity and access management has become a critical control point for enterprise security, but the process of putting IAM technology into practice remains expensive and difficult. Organizations can spend years implementing identity systems, while the services required to customize and operate them can ultimately cost several times more than the software itself.
As reported by Axios, Insight Partners and Glilot Capital are co-leading a $20 million investment in Way Security, a company founded by former security leaders Yossi Barishev and Yonatan Rosenberg. The company is developing an AI-powered, agentic execution platform designed to automate the operational work that has traditionally made IAM programs so dependent on consultants and internal engineering teams.
Rather than replacing the identity platforms enterprises already own, Way Security is focused on helping organizations make those investments work across their environments. The company says its platform can automate identity lifecycle management, access governance, authentication and policy enforcement while extending coverage to complex applications.
The Business Case For Automating IAM
The opportunity Way Security is pursuing stems from what it describes as a structural imbalance in the IAM market. Enterprise identity programs can run years beyond schedule and reach seven- or eight-digit costs, while implementation, customization and ongoing operational services can cost three to five times the price of the underlying software.
That has created a services ecosystem that Way Security says is larger than the IAM software market it supports. The company’s platform uses AI-driven automation and agentic workflows to execute tasks that traditionally require consultants, system integrators and internal engineering resources.
âIAM is the only space in cyber where overspending and under-delivering is an acceptable reality,â said Barishev, co-founder and CEO of Way Security. âThe more time we spent doing IAM, the more we realized how the industry normalized mediocrity and has almost given up trying to solve some of its biggest challenges.â
Built To Work With What Enterprises Already Have
Way Security’s approach is based on the idea that enterprises do not necessarily need to replace their existing IAM infrastructure. Instead, the company wants to automate the work required to deploy and maintain those systems across the full enterprise, including legacy, homegrown and custom applications that do not support standard federation protocols.
“Most IAM teams aren’t looking to replace the platforms they’ve already invested in,” said Rosenberg, co-founder and CTO. “They’re looking to finally get the return on investment they were promised. We built Way Security to automate the work that has traditionally stood between buying an IAM platform and actually realizing its value.”
The founders bring firsthand experience to the problem. Barishev and Rosenberg have advised Fortune 500 organizations through complex identity initiatives and led enterprise security organizations, while also spending years on incident response efforts involving major cyber incidents. Rosenberg additionally served as an officer in Israel’s Unit 8200.
A $20M Bet On The Execution Layer
Insight Partners and Glilot Capital are backing Way Security’s effort to address the gap between IAM software and real-world execution. Insight Partners Co-Founder and Managing Director Jeff Horing said the company is targeting a persistent problem in enterprise security.
âIdentity is one of the most critical layers of enterprise security, yet organizations still struggle to operationalize their investments efficiently,â said Jeff Horing, Co-Founder and Managing Director at Insight Partners. âWay Security is addressing a large and persistent gap between IAM software and real-world execution.â
Way Security says it is already working with Fortune 500 companies, global healthcare organizations and financial institutions. The company plans to use the new funding to expand its U.S. presence and continue investing in its identity operations platform as it seeks to establish a new category around the operational side of enterprise IAM.
