Identity & Access Management: Over a Quarter of Businesses Globally to Deploy IAM by 2031, as Market Leaders Revealed

A new study by global tech strategists Juniper Research has found that the number of businesses using Identity & Access Management (IAM) services globally will reach over 88 million in 2031; up from 67.6 million in 2026.

This represents over 26% of all businesses worldwide.

This growth of over 30% reflects how IAM is evolving in the face of AI threats. As non-human identities, such as AI agents, quickly outnumber human employees, businesses must introduce robust controls to protect their systems and processes from unintended access and actions. As such, IAM solutions are increasingly vital to managing cybersecurity risk.

An extract from the report, Identity & Access Management Market 2026-2031 , is available as a free download .

Leaders in IAM Are Prioritising Continuous Identity Governance

As part of the study, Juniper Research released its 2026 Competitor Leaderboard for Identity & Access Management vendors. The five leading vendors identified were:

• Microsoft
• Okta
• Oracle Corporation
• IBM Security Verify
• Ping Identity

The research identified the leading vendors as those excelling in providing continuous identity governance capabilities, rather than fixed systems that focus on regular reviews or onboarding-based policies.

VP of Research Nick Maynard commented, “Rather than relying on periodic access reviews, IAM teams must use automated monitoring and lifecycle controls to identify issues continuously. This approach will enable IAM systems to catch issues as they occur, such as excessive privileges, dormant accounts, and policy drifts. This is increasingly important, as AI agents and other autonomous identities may act continuously, change behaviour, or retain credentials long after their original purpose has ended.”

The new market research suite offers the most comprehensive assessment of the IAM market to date; providing insightful market analysis and forecasts of 27,500 datapoints over a five-year period. In addition to a Competitor Leaderboard examining 21 leaders in the space, it includes detailed evaluation of future market opportunities.

Source: Juniper Research media announcement