TLDR: Okta’s Auth0 Customer Identity Trends Report 2025 highlights a critical trust gap in the adoption of AI agents, with 70% of consumers preferring human interaction due to concerns over data privacy and security. The report, based on a global survey of 6,750 consumers, underscores escalating identity-based attacks and calls for organizations to prioritize robust identity and access management to build user confidence in the AI era.
A new report from Okta, the Auth0 Customer Identity Trends Report 2025, reveals a significant disconnect between the rapid deployment of AI agents by organizations and the willingness of consumers to trust them. The report, based on a global survey of 6,750 consumers across nine countries and anonymized operational telemetry from the Auth0 platform, emphasizes an urgent need for businesses to bridge the gap between AI innovation and user confidence.
The findings indicate a strong consumer preference for human interaction, with a striking 70% of users stating they would rather engage with a human than an AI agent during transactions. This preference is largely driven by a fundamental lack of trust, as 44% of those hesitant to use AI agents explicitly stated, ‘I don’t trust AI agents with my personal data.’ More broadly, 60% of survey respondents expressed deep concern about AI’s impact on digital identity, privacy, and security, with only 9% showing little to no concern.
The report also sheds light on the escalating threat landscape, noting that many AI deployments currently lack robust Identity and Access Management (IAM) mechanisms, which could lead to data leaks and breaches. In 2024, an alarming average of 46% of all registration attempts across the Auth0 platform were identified as signup attacks. The retail and e-commerce sector has been particularly hard hit, experiencing a multi-month attack where fraudulent sign-ups outnumbered legitimate ones by 120 times. Professional and financial services are also frequent targets due to the sensitive nature of the information they handle.
Despite the growing security risks, consumer behavior often exacerbates vulnerabilities; the report found that 68% of users admit to reusing passwords across multiple accounts, opting for convenience over security. Auth0 President Shiv Ramji highlighted the importance of these insights, stating, ‘Customer trust is paramount, security threats are escalating, and the promise of AI hinges on our ability to instill confidence in its use.’
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To foster trust and secure digital interactions in the age of AI, the report urges organizations to strengthen their identity layers. Key recommendations include implementing advanced identity protection tools to detect and prevent bot-based sign-up attacks, prioritizing user-friendly security measures, adopting ‘trust-by-design’ approaches to AI, and fostering strong cross-sector collaboration. Okta CEO Todd McKinnon reinforces this by stating, ‘identity is security.’ Okta itself is addressing these challenges with solutions like Cross App Access, a new protocol designed to secure AI agents and provide visibility, control, and governance over agent-driven and app-to-app interactions, aiming to close the security blind spots created by new AI tools.
