82% of Businesses Hit by Customer Identity Issues, Says Descope

ByRicardo

Third-party survey of 400+ determination makers finds CIAM in a state of transformation as organizations navigate password struggles, overworked builders, and agentic identification

Descope, the drag & drop exterior IAM platform, commissioned a survey of 416 people with technical and / or budgetary duty for Customer Identity and Access Management (CIAM) options. The State of Customer Identity research discovered organizations scuffling with subpar authentication strategies and legacy methods, however not with the ability to discover the time or funds to maneuver in direction of strategies and methods higher suited to their customers.

Notably, the research discovered that whereas 87% of organizations use password-based authentication for his or her customer-facing functions, solely 2% felt it was the simplest technique to steadiness safety and person expertise. The similar theme of regret got here throughout within the options used to implement CIAM: whereas 51% of organizations use their current workforce IAM to implement buyer auth, solely 8% would select to do the identical in the event that they had been to start out from scratch.

These patchwork implementations find yourself affecting the underside line, with 82% of survey respondents citing at the least some destructive enterprise influence. Around 52% confronted excessive prices associated to auth assist tickets, 37% delayed product launches as a consequence of identity-related growth duties, and 30% suffered person dropoffs as a consequence of complicated onboarding.

“This research places quantitative weight behind what we’ve been listening to from a whole bunch of organizations,” stated Rishi Bhargava, co-founder of Descope. “Engineering and identification groups try to suit sq. pegs into spherical holes in the case of buyer identification. Maintaining homegrown or workforce-based options with overstretched growth groups is a recipe for falling behind as person wants evolve, new product wants come up, or AI brokers are added to the combination.”

Overstretched builders

The survey responses make clear how organizations are tasking already overburdened builders with CIAM duties with out the required supporting methods in place, inflicting the enterprise and safety ramifications highlighted above.

  • 51% of organizations process builders with minimal to no authentication expertise to construct and handle CIAM
  • Only 28% of organizations report having devoted CIAM engineers
  • 46% of organizations cite delaying identity-related initiatives as a consequence of competing product priorities

The true value of open-source CIAM

Using open-source options to implement CIAM is a well-liked selection for flexibility and low surface-level prices, however survey outcomes highlighted the continued value of counting on open-source options.

  • 50% of organizations utilizing open-source CIAM confronted income losses / person dropoffs as a consequence of strict authentication, in comparison with 26% of organizations that used industrial CIAM
  • 51% of organizations utilizing open-source CIAM skilled safety incidents after implementing low-friction authentication, in comparison with 39% of organizations that used industrial CIAM
  • 55% of organizations utilizing open-source CIAM have cancelled or delayed CIAM upgrades as a consequence of competing product and engineering priorities

The significance of agentic identification controls

Most organizations are exploring the concept of adopting AI brokers or MCP servers, however the want for identification guardrails are sometimes stopping these initiatives from reaching full manufacturing. Security considerations about over-permissioned AI brokers and lack of governance controls proceed to rise.

  • 88% of respondents are utilizing or planning to make use of AI brokers, however solely 37% have progressed past pilot applications
  • 57% of respondents are involved about AI brokers accessing unauthorized knowledge or sharing knowledge with unauthorized customers
  • 46% of respondents cite their engineering groups not having the required time or experience to construct and handle agentic identification methods

Methodology

The survey was commissioned by Descope and performed by Dimensional Research. Independent sources of know-how stakeholders had been invited to take part in a web based survey. A spread of questions had been requested on present approaches and experiences with buyer identities and authentication. Responses had been captured between June 6 – 24, 2025. The survey was fielded in English. A complete of 416 certified people accomplished the survey. All had determination making duty (technical and/or funds) for Customer Identity and Access Management (CIAM) options at an organization with greater than 500 staff.

The submit 82% of Businesses Hit by Customer Identity Issues, Says Descope first appeared on AI-Tech Park.

Similar Posts