Amid the continued artificial intelligence (AI) boom, Toronto-based password management software company 1Password has added some new capabilities to its Extended Access Management (XAM) platform.
These additions include new administrative and compliance features as well as tools designed to help customers manage AI agents more securely, “with the same rigour” as a human identity without sacrificing developer speed.
In an interview with BetaKit, 1Password co-CEO David Faugno said that over the past month or so, he has been seeing “a tremendous acceleration of adoption of agentic [AI] solutions in companies everywhere,” and noted this has created a new set of business security concerns.
“If you are not front and centre on AI and its impact to your business … then you’re at risk.”
David Faugno,
1Password
AI agents are software systems that use AI to autonomously perform tasks to achieve specific goals, and there is a lot of hype and some caution right now regarding their potential impact. Many businesses have been adopting AI agents, but those AI agents are often accessing sensitive corporate credentials and data and taking action with limited oversight, which creates an “unbelievable security risk,” Faugno said.
As Faugno put it, 1Password aims to “make the easy thing the secure thing” for clients using not just its password manager, but XAM, including those looking to leverage agentic AI.
Many leaders have been pressuring their teams to adopt AI. Faugno pointed to Shopify co-founder and CEO Tobi Lütke’s recent memo stating that employees must prove AI cannot help before asking for more resources or staff as just one example of a broader trend.
1Password has spent time refining some of its developer tools for use with AI agents, and is now launching a software development kit for agentic AI, service accounts, and audit logs.
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Faugno said these capabilities will help developers build secure AI workflows that point back to 1Password when coding agents so those credentials can be managed, activate and deploy two-factor authentication, and track agent activity.
“There’s a lot more we can do on top of that baseline, but that baseline exists today, it’s been fine-tuned for this use case, and we’re ready to roll with it,” Faugno said.
Founded in 2005 under the name AgileBits, 1Password is one of Canada’s most valuable tech companies. 1Password sells identity security and access management software to over 165,000 businesses and millions of consumers, helping individuals and clients like Aldo Group, Associated Press, Canva, IBM, Intercom, Salesforce, and Under Armour secure sign-ins to applications and websites.
1Password has raised $920 million USD in total funding to date from a group that includes Accel, Iconiq Growth, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Salesforce Ventures, and Tiger Global, among others. The firm most recently closed a $620-million Series C at a $6.8-billion valuation in early 2022, and surpassed $250 million in annual recurring revenue in 2023. 1Password co-CEO Jeff Shiner told BetaKit earlier this year that the company remains cash-flow positive and well capitalized
A year ago, 1Password launched XAM to help businesses “secure every sign-in for every app on every device.” XAM was a combination of 1Password’s password manager and the device-trust tech the firm acquired through its purchase of US-based Kolide in early 2024.
1Password’s strategic acquisition of UK-based Trelica earlier this year gave the company access to “shadow IT discovery capabilities” to help security teams spot and manage access to previously unknown and unmanaged applications. Since then, Faugno noted 1Password has been working to integrate this tech into XAM, and develop the AI capabilities the company just announced.
“Our view is, if you are not front and centre on AI and its impact to your business in a number of dimensions, then you’re at risk,” Faugno said.
Faugno argued using AI to save on headcount is “table stakes” now.
He said that 1Password has been aggressively using AI for the past year. “The first generation of AI deployment was, ‘Hey, how can I save [on] head count, not having to hire more in this area because I can do things a little more efficiently,’” Faugno said. “And those days are gone—that’s table stakes.”
Today, Faugno said, 1Password’s focus is on how to use AI to deliver “outsized business outcomes,” such as improved customer satisfaction or brand-new product capabilities.
“It’s not the cost, it’s the business outcome … that’s the power of AI, and that’s what actually is going to drive winners and losers,” Faugno said. “So that’s the orientation we’re taking on a job-by-job basis.”
Feature image courtesy 1Password.