TLDR: Okta, Inc. has introduced ‘Cross App Access,’ a new open standard protocol designed to enhance security and provide centralized control for AI agents interacting across various enterprise applications. This innovation aims to eliminate repetitive user authorizations and offer IT teams greater visibility into AI-driven data access.
SAN FRANCISCO – Okta, Inc. (NASDAQ:OKTA), a prominent leader in identity management, has announced the development of ‘Cross App Access,’ a groundbreaking open standard protocol aimed at bolstering security and governance for artificial intelligence agents operating within enterprise environments. This new protocol, built as an extension of the widely used OAuth standard, addresses the escalating complexities and potential security risks posed by autonomous AI agents and unmanaged app-to-app connections.
The ‘Cross App Access’ protocol is designed to provide IT teams with unprecedented visibility and control over how AI agents interact with applications and access sensitive information. Currently, as AI tools increasingly leverage protocols like Model Context Protocol (MCP) and Agent2Agent (A2A) to connect with enterprise data sources such as Google Drive and Slack, organizations face challenges with repetitive user authorizations and significant security blind spots. The new Okta protocol seeks to resolve these issues by centralizing access control and streamlining the authentication process.
According to Okta, the protocol will be available for select Okta Platform customers in the third quarter of 2025. Its core functionality involves routing all access requests through Okta’s identity layer. Okta then evaluates these requests against enterprise-defined security policies before issuing secure tokens for validated access. This mechanism not only maintains real-time visibility for IT teams through detailed logs and telemetry but also significantly reduces friction for end-users by eliminating the need for manual, repetitive authorizations for each application integration.
Arnab Bose, Chief Product Officer, Okta Platform at Okta, emphasized the significance of this development, stating, ‘With Cross App Access, Okta is excited to bring oversight and control to how agents interact across the enterprise.’ He further added, ‘Since protocols are only as powerful as the ecosystem that supports them, we’re also committed to collaborating across the software industry to provide agents with secure, standardized access to all apps.’ This collaborative approach includes working with leading independent software vendors (ISVs) to ensure broad adoption and seamless integration.
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For ISVs, ‘Cross App Access’ offers a standardized and secure method to deliver enterprise-ready integrations without relying on risky token exchanges. For enterprises, it translates into improved security through centralized policy enforcement, enhanced visibility into agent-app interactions, and better compliance by reducing ‘token sprawl.’ The protocol is a strategic move by Okta to address the evolving landscape of AI-driven operations, ensuring that as AI agents become more autonomous, their access to critical data remains secure and governed.
