Where Gartner Sees Identity Security Heading | Mark Diodati, Gartner

This episode features Mark Diodati, Managing Vice President for Identity and Access Management at Gartner. Mark has spent two decades shaping how the industry thinks about authentication, privileged access, and cloud identity, working with renowned companies like Ping Identity, CA, RSA, and now, Gartner. Today, he leads Gartner's global IAM for Leaders analyst team and sets its research agenda across the full identity stack. In this episode, Mark explains how Gartner's research model works and what his team is prioritizing across identity verification, authorization, ITDR, and decentralized identity. He also breaks down what AI means for identity right now and why securing AI agents is harder than most teams realize. This episode is a deep dive into where identity is heading from someone whose job is to listen to everyone. Guest Bio Mark Diodati is the Managing Vice President for Identity & Access Management at Gartner. Mark is a longtime identity pioneer who helped shape the way the industry thinks about authentication, privileged access management, and cloud identity. He leads a large team of analysts, sets the global IAM research agenda, and rigorously reviews every document to keep the bar high. Before that, he guided Gartner’s IAM research for technical professionals, chaired major industry conferences like Catalyst Europe and the Cloud Identity Summit, and drove triple-digit growth in attendance and sponsorships. Earlier in his career, he held key leadership roles at CA, RSA, and Ping Identity, influencing product strategy and partnerships that many identity practitioners rely on today. Guest Quote " One thing we're critically aware of at Gartner is that nobody knows everything. It's impossible.” Time stamps 02:11 Meet Mark Diodati: Identity Analyst and IAM Research Leader 06:00 Inside Gartner: Research, Conferences, and Consulting 09:18 Hiring and Training the Gartner Analyst 15:26 How the Inquiry Process Works 24:07 Gartner Research Products for Identity Professionals 28:02 IAM Research Priorities Right Now 32:31 AI and Identity: Opportunity and Risk 39:35 A Musical Moment with Mark 44:26 Conclusion and Final Thoughts Sponsor The HIP Podcast is brought to you by Semperis, the leader in identity-driven cyber resilience for the hybrid enterprise. Trusted by the world’s leading businesses, Semperis protects critical Active Directory and Entra ID environments from cyberattacks, ensuring rapid recovery and business continuity when every second counts. Visit semperis.com to learn more. Links Connect with Mark on LinkedIn (  / markdiodati  ) Connect with Sean on LinkedIn (  / seandeuby  ) Don't miss future episodes (https://www.hipconf.com/podcasts/) Learn more about Semperis (https://www.semperis.com/)   / semperis   https://www.hipconf.com/podcast   / hybrid-identity-protection-conference