Insight Partners and Glilot Capital are co-leading a $20 million investment in Way Security aimed at transforming IAM operations.

      Identity and access management (IAM) has become a crucial element of enterprise cybersecurity, yet the solutions that organizations purchase to oversee identity often lead to a secondary issue: integrating these systems into the complex landscape of the organization. Way Security, established by former security leaders Yossi Barishev and Yonatan Rosenberg, aims to address this challenge with an AI-driven strategy that seeks to automate the operational tasks associated with IAM. As reported by Axios, Insight Partners and Glilot Capital are co-leading a $20 million investment in Way Security, which is looking to create a software-enabled alternative to the expensive implementation and consulting services typically associated with IAM.

      The company’s value proposition is clear. Organizations have already made substantial investments in identity platforms, but deploying and managing these systems often demands significant manual labor, specialized skills, and professional services. Way Security intends to automate these processes without requiring businesses to replace their existing IAM infrastructure.

      The Disparity Between IAM Software and Outcomes

      Enterprise IAM projects can span several years and incur costs in the seven- to eight-digit range while frequently falling short of expectations. Way Security claims that implementation, customization, and ongoing operational support can amount to three to five times the cost of the software itself. This creates a unique situation in the cybersecurity sector: the services needed to make IAM technology effective can become pricier than the technology itself.

      Way Security views this disparity as a multi-billion-dollar opportunity. The firm is concentrating on the execution challenges associated with IAM, contending that organizations require a more effective means of deploying and running the systems they already have rather than an entirely new identity platform. “The problem isn’t that enterprises lack the right tools,” Barishev stated. “It’s that those tools are exceedingly costly and complicated to operationalize. We established Way Security to eliminate that friction.”

      An Operational Layer for Identity

      Way Security’s platform employs AI-powered automation and intelligent workflows to manage operational tasks historically handled by consultants, system integrators, and internal engineering teams. The company asserts that its methodology enables organizations to implement identity controls across various types of identities and systems without needing custom integrations, manual processes, or continued reliance on application owners. The platform is meant to automate activities related to lifecycle management, access governance, authentication, and policy enforcement.

      Instead of necessitating that enterprises discard or overhaul their current identity systems, Way Security is positioning its technology as an operational layer that assists organizations in maximizing the value of their existing investments. “Most IAM teams aren’t seeking to replace the platforms they’ve already invested in,” Rosenberg, co-founder and CTO, said. “They aim to finally achieve the return on investment they were promised. We created Way Security to automate the tasks that have traditionally created barriers between acquiring an IAM platform and realizing its value.”

      The company’s platform also aims to extend identity controls to applications that may be difficult to include in standard IAM programs, such as legacy, custom-built, and unique applications lacking support for standard federation protocols.

      Founders With a Front-Row View of the Problem

      The company was established by Barishev and Rosenberg after years of navigating identity, governance, and security issues in enterprises. They previously advised Fortune 500 companies through intricate identity initiatives and led enterprise security teams, giving them direct insight into the operational hurdles that can hinder IAM projects. They also spent numerous years managing incident response efforts for organizations hit by significant cyber incidents, frequently identifying weak identity controls as a fundamental cause or key enabler of successful attacks. Additionally, Rosenberg served as an officer in Israel’s Unit 8200, adding an offensive security perspective to the company’s approach.

      “IAM is the only area in cybersecurity where overspending and underperformance is seen as an acceptable reality,” Barishev, co-founder and CEO of Way Security, remarked. “The more time we devoted to IAM, the more we recognized how the industry normalized mediocrity and has almost resigned itself to tackling some of its most pressing challenges.”

      Investors Support an Alternative IAM Model

      Insight Partners and Glilot Capital are wagering that the operational challenges surrounding identity present a larger opportunity than the traditional IAM software market. “Identity is among the most crucial layers of enterprise security, yet organizations continue to struggle with efficiently operationalizing their investments,” said Jeff Horing, Co-Founder and Managing Director at Insight Partners. “Way Security aims to bridge a significant and persistent gap between IAM software and practical execution.”

      Nofar Amikam, Managing Partner at Glilot Capital, expressed that the company distinguished itself due to the blend of its founding team, market potential, and strategy. “As investors, we’re always on the hunt for the rare combination of an exceptional team, a substantial market opportunity, and a unique approach,” stated Nofar Amikam. “With Yossi and Yonatan, all three were evident from our very first meeting. They have a profound understanding of the identity challenges that large enterprises face because they’ve experienced them firsthand, and they’ve developed a fundamentally better method for resolving them. Identity has become the bed