Complimentary Analyst Report

2026 Gartner® Hype Cycle™ for Agentic AI.

AI agents are moving faster than your identity controls.

This first Gartner Hype Cycle for Agentic AI maps 33 innovations reshaping the enterprise - and names identity and access management as a defining control challenge. See what Gartner recommends before your agents outnumber your employees.

“There is an observed shift from passive assistants to active agents that are capable of tool usage and decision making, outpacing the existing incumbent security controls and creating an urgent demand for specialized defenses.”
- Gartner, Hype Cycle for Agentic AI, 2026

Get complimentary access

Read the full Gartner Hype Cycle for Agentic AI, 2026.

42%

of organizations expect to deploy AI agents in the next 12 months

the most aggressive adoption curve of any emerging technology surveyed

<1%

market penetration of agentic AI governance

Source: 2026 Gartner® Hype Cycle™ for Agentic AI (Gartner 2026 CIO and Technology Executive Survey)

Why we believe this is important

Every agent is an identity. Most are ungoverned.

Agents don’t just generate text anymore - they hold credentials, call tools, and act across your systems. Here’s the control gap we see security teams confronting as agent adoption accelerates.

For CIOs

Separate real capability from agent-washing before your next platform decision.

The full 33 innovation map with maturity, benefit, and time-to-adoption ratings
A Priority Matrix to sequence agentic investments against risk
Why semiautonomous - not autonomous - deployment is the planning baseline

For CISOs

Get ahead of the attack surface your AI roadmap is creating.

Agent-specific attack vectors: credential hijacking, excessive agency, cross-agent delegation
The Gartner guidance on zero trust and least privilege for agents
How guardian agents and agent discovery fit your security architecture

For IAM leaders

Agents are the fastest-growing identity population you own - ready or not.

Why Gartner calls out the gap between AI tooling and the IAM industry
Access policy, auditing, and re-authentication guidance for nonhuman identities
The case for ending shared API keys and standing agent credentials

What stood out to us

Gartner’s playbook for governing agents starts with identity.

Across governance, security, and protocol profiles, the report’s recommendations converge on one theme: treat every agent as an identity, and govern it like one. Use the report to pressure-test your roadmap.

Define access policies for agentic access to resources - monitor activity, audit regularly
Replace shared API keys with per-user authentication and authorization
Require re-authentication for long-running or sensitive agent sessions
Discover and inventory every agent - sanctioned and unsanctioned
Keep humans in the loop for high-risk actions and sensitive data access

Your agents already have credentials.
Do they have governance?

Read the full Gartner Hype Cycle for Agentic AI, 2026 - complimentary, courtesy of NewCore.

Read the Report Talk to NewCore

Gartner, Hype Cycle for Agentic AI, 2026, Rajesh Kandaswamy, Leinar Ramos, Gary Olliffe, Tom Coshow, Pieter den Hamer, Erick Brethenoux, 2 April 2026.

Gartner does not endorse any company, vendor, product or service depicted in its publications, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designation. Gartner publications consist of the opinions of Gartner’s business and technology insights organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this publication, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.

Gartner and Hype Cycle are a trademark of Gartner, Inc., and/or its affiliates.