The US Intelligence Community is developing “digital birth certificates” for AI agents. Intelligence Community CIO Douglas Cossa told the DoDIIS 2026 conference that autonomous agents have upended traditional Zero Trust models. Agents need broad, independent access to operate, while older systems were built to restrict access. No unified identity system currently exists across agencies for non-human users. Cossa proposed digital birth certificates for people, devices and AI agents to create a verifiable identity from the moment of creation. The IC CIO office is investing in an enterprise identity management service that treats agents as first-class entities alongside people and devices. The goal is to make identity core infrastructure for interoperability, lifecycle management and programmable access control. Operational pilots are planned for fall 2026. Adm. Frank Bradley of US Special Operations Command separately called for systems that can auto-defend against agentic offense.
The US Intelligence Community is developing “digital birth certificates” for AI agents. Intelligence Community CIO Douglas Cossa told the DoDIIS 2026 conference that autonomous agents have upended traditional Zero Trust models. Agents need broad, independent access to operate, while older systems were built to restrict access. No unified identity system currently exists across agencies for non-human users. Cossa proposed digital birth certificates for people, devices and AI agents to create a verifiable identity from the moment of creation. The IC CIO office is investing in an enterprise identity management service that treats agents as first-class entities alongside people and devices. The goal is to make identity core infrastructure for interoperability, lifecycle management and programmable access control. Operational pilots are planned for fall 2026. Adm. Frank Bradley of US Special Operations Command separately called for systems that can auto-defend against agentic offense.