Competitive Landscape Analysis:Way Security

Identity Enforcement Layer Market Intelligence Report 2026

Report Date: November 2, 2026
Classification: Market Intelligence
Coverage: Way Security, Direct Competitors, IAM/IGA Market Dynamics, Aligned Trends

Executive Summary

Way Security emerged from stealth in July 2026 with $20M in seed funding from Insight Partners and Glilot Capital, positioning itself as an AI-powered identity operations platform that automates IAM deployment and enforcement across enterprise environments. Unlike traditional IAM vendors, Way Security does not replace existing identity infrastructure—it operationalizes investments organizations have already made in IdP, IGA, and PAM tools.

Key Findings:

• Way Security targets the implementation gap where enterprises spend 3-5x more on IAM consulting and customization than on software licenses
• The company has ~30 employees and dozens of paying customers across financial services, healthcare, and manufacturing (including Fortune 500 companies)
• Direct competitors include Datawiza (proxy-based enforcement), Silverfort (runtime identity protection, $222M raised), Strata Identity (acquired by Rubrik June 2026), ConductorOne ($111M raised, AI-native IGA), and Veza (acquired by ServiceNow March 2026 for >$1B)
• The broader IAM market is valued at $25.96B in 2025 → $42.61B by 2030 (10.4% CAGR), with identity security specifically projected to double to $60B due to agentic AI demand (Morgan Stanley, September 2026)
• Non-human identities (NHIs) now outnumber human identities 45:1 to 144:1 in cloud-native environments, creating unprecedented governance challenges

Strategic Position: Way Security occupies a unique niche between IAM vendors (Okta, Microsoft Entra, SailPoint) and implementation partners. Its agentic automation model directly competes with the professional services revenue that traditionally accompanies IAM deployments—a market estimated at 3-5x software license value.

1. Company Profile: Way Security

1.1 Overview

1.2 Value Proposition

Way Security addresses a critical pain point: IAM tools don’t enforce themselves. Enterprises purchase IdP (Okta, Microsoft Entra), IGA (SailPoint, Saviynt), and PAM (CyberArk) solutions, but these tools only secure applications and identities they can directly integrate with. Legacy systems, homegrown applications, and non-standard protocols fall outside IAM coverage, requiring:

• Custom integration projects (weeks to months per application)
• Ongoing manual operations (access reviews, lifecycle management, policy enforcement)
• Consulting engagements costing 3-5x the software license value

Way Security’s Solution: An AI-powered enforcement layer that sits on top of existing IAM infrastructure, extending SSO, MFA, provisioning, and governance to 100% of applications and identities without rip-and-replace.

1.3 Product Capabilities

Core Features:

1. Universal Integration Layer
   • Single connector model applies IAM controls to any application (legacy, custom, cloud, on-prem)
   • No protocol dependencies (SAML, OIDC, proprietary)
   • Eliminates custom integration projects per application
2. Agentic Identity Operations
   • AI agents execute application onboarding, policy rollout, and remediation
   • Human oversight with automated workflow execution
   • Reduces IAM operational toil by ~95% (per company claims)
3. Identity Intelligence
   • Discovers all identities (human, non-human, AI agents) across environments
   • Surfaces shadow IT, orphaned accounts, excessive privileges
   • Real-time hygiene monitoring and remediation guidance
4. Enforcement Without Replacement
   • Works with existing IdP, IGA, PAM investments
   • Extends controls to previously unreachable applications
   • No disruption to current identity stack

1.4 Go-to-Market Strategy

Distribution Model:

• Cyberdis (value-added distributor) handles EMEA and channel partnerships
• Engineer-led proof-of-concept scoped to customer’s “stalled apps” (legacy/custom systems that resisted IAM onboarding)
• Target: Identity teams, security engineers, IAM practitioners (not C-level procurement)

Pricing: Not publicly disclosed (enterprise quote-based)

2. Market Context & Aligned Trends

2.1 IAM Market Size & Growth

Key Insight: Morgan Stanley (September 2026) projects the identity security market will more than double to $60B as agentic AI creates demand for governing non-human identities. This represents a ~58% CAGR—significantly higher than traditional IAM growth rates.

2.2 Non-Human Identity (NHI) Explosion

Governance Gap (IDC 2026):

• Enforcement: Hours
• Discovery: Weeks to months (only 18% reconcile continuously)
• Machine/Agent Identity Creation: Seconds

This gap creates the operational burden Way Security targets: identities are created faster than they can be discovered and governed.

2.3 Agentic AI Impact on Identity Security

SailPoint Horizons Report (October 2026):

• 79% of enterprises run AI agents in production
• Only 2% use purpose-built identity security for agents (40:1 gap)
• 85% rely on legacy identity tools not designed for agentic identities
• 54% of organizations at Horizon 1 (lowest) maturity for agent identity security
• 62% of mature NHI security programs report measurable productivity gains

Morgan Stanley Analysis (September 2026):

“Authentication is becoming more complex, with security systems needing to determine not only who or what is seeking access, but why access is needed, for how long, and what actions an agent can take… The enterprise [identity security] market could more than double over the next two years, from approximately $24 billion today to $60 billion.”

2.4 Zero Trust & Regulatory Drivers

3. Competitive Landscape

3.1 Direct Competitors (IAM Enforcement Layer)

3.2 Adjacent Competitors (IAM Platform Vendors)

3.3 Competitive Positioning Matrix

Way Security vs. Direct Competitors:

Key Differentiator: Way Security is the only vendor explicitly targeting the IAM implementation services market (3-5x software value) rather than competing on IAM software features. Its agentic automation model replaces consulting engagements, not IAM platforms.

4. Market Dynamics & Trends

4.1 Consolidation Wave (2025-2026)

Implication for Way Security: Consolidation validates identity security as a strategic category, but creates gaps for specialized players. Way Security’s “enforcement layer” positioning avoids direct competition with platform consolidators.

4.2 Valuation Multiples (2026)

Way Security Implication: As a Seed-stage company in the AI agent identity operations niche, Way Security could command 15x-30x multiples if it demonstrates traction in governing non-human identities.

4.3 Technology Trends

5. SWOT Analysis: Way Security

Strengths

• First-mover in IAM operations automation: Explicitly targets the 3-5x implementation services market
• Stack-friendly positioning: Does not threaten existing IAM vendor relationships (Okta, SailPoint, Microsoft)
• Agentic workflow differentiation: AI agents execute onboarding, policy rollout, remediation (not just recommendations)
• Founder-market fit: Yossi Barishev (ex-Fireblocks security lead) understands enterprise identity pain points
• Strong investor backing: Insight Partners (enterprise software specialist) + Glilot Capital (cybersecurity focus)

Weaknesses

• Early stage: Only ~30 employees, dozens of customers (vs. Silverfort’s 1,200+ customers, 647 employees)
• Limited funding: $20M Seed vs. competitors’ $100M+ rounds (ConductorOne $111M, Silverfort $222M)
• No public pricing: Quote-only model slows evaluation vs. transparent competitors
• Narrow focus: IAM enforcement layer may be perceived as “nice-to-have” vs. core IAM platform
• Dependency on existing IAM: Value proposition requires customers to already own IdP/IGA/PAM (limits TAM to IAM adopters)

Opportunities

• Agentic AI governance gap: 40:1 gap between AI agent adoption (79%) and purpose-built security (2%)
• NHI explosion: 45:1 to 144:1 NHI:human ratio creates unprecedented operational burden
• Professional services replacement: $3-5B+ annual IAM consulting spend (estimated at 3-5x $25B IAM market)
• Consolidation gaps: Platform vendors (Palo Alto, ServiceNow, Rubrik) focus on core IAM, not operations automation
• Regulatory tailwinds: EU AI Act, DORA, SEC rules require identity governance for AI systems

Threats

• Microsoft Entra bundling: Free IAM capabilities compress pricing for standalone vendors (Okta trades at 5.1x vs. SailPoint 10.2x)
• Platform vendor expansion: Okta, SailPoint, CyberArk could add “operations automation” features
• Acquisition risk: Early-stage company may be acquired before achieving scale (Veza, Strata precedents)
• Economic downturn: IAM operations automation may be deferred vs. core IAM platform investments
• Open-source alternatives: Keycloak (free, 1.6% market share) could expand into operations automation

6. Press Releases & Recent Developments

Way Security

• July 27, 2026: Way Security Raises $20M Seed from Insight Partners and Glilot Capital (Axios, Unite.AI, TNW)
• July 2026: Company launches from stealth with dozens of paying enterprise customers
• Q3 2026: Cyberdis announced as EMEA distributor

Competitors

• October 28, 2025: ConductorOne raises $79M Series B (Greycroft, CrowdStrike Falcon Fund)
• March 2, 2026: ServiceNow acquires Veza for >$1B (integrates into AI Control Tower)
• April 28, 2026: Silverfort acquires Fabrix Security (AI-native identity decisioning engine)
• June 9, 2026: Rubrik acquires Strata Identity (Identity Continuity for resilience)
• September 22, 2026: Lumos launches MCP Governance for AI agent tool calls
• October 6, 2026: SailPoint Horizons Report: 79% run AI agents in production, only 2% have purpose-built security

Market Research

• September 1, 2026: Morgan Stanley: Agentic AI could double identity security market to $60B
• October 2026: IDC Survey: Only 18% of organizations reconcile identities continuously
• October 2026: SailPoint Investor Day: Targeting $2.1B ARR by FY2029, $800M+ from AI-driven solutions

7. Strategic Recommendations

For Way Security

1. Expand AI Agent Governance: Launch explicit AI agent identity governance capabilities (compete with Lumos MCP Governance, Datawiza Agent Gateway)
2. Publish Pricing Tiers: Introduce transparent pricing for SMB/mid-market segments (compete with Okta’s $4/user/month IGA add-on)
3. Partner with IAM Vendors: Formalize partnerships with Okta, SailPoint, Microsoft (position as “force multiplier” not competitor)
4. Raise Series A: $40M-60M Series A to scale sales/engineering (compete with ConductorOne’s $111M war chest)
5. Case Studies: Publish detailed ROI metrics (implementation time reduction, consulting cost savings, coverage expansion)

For Enterprises Evaluating Way Security

1. Scope PoC to Stalled Apps: Target legacy/custom applications that resisted IAM onboarding for 12+ months
2. Measure Consulting Cost Avoidance: Track engineering hours saved vs. traditional integration projects
3. Evaluate AI Agent Governance: Assess capabilities for governing AI agents, MCP servers, API access (2026 priority)
4. Compare to Silverfort/Datawiza: Evaluate runtime enforcement (Silverfort RAP) vs. proxy model (Datawiza) vs. agentic automation (Way)
5. Consider Total Cost of Ownership: Include 3-5 year consulting/operations costs (not just software license)

For Investors

1. Monitor NHI:Human Ratios: Track non-human identity growth at portfolio companies (leading indicator of Way Security TAM expansion)
2. Watch for Platform Vendor Expansion: Okta, SailPoint, Microsoft could acquire or build IAM operations automation
3. Assess Agentic AI Governance Traction: Measure % of revenue from AI agent identity use cases (2026-2027 inflection point)
4. Evaluate Channel Partnerships: Cyberdis model could scale (or limit) go-to-market velocity
5. Track Customer Retention: Early enterprise customers (Fortune 500, financial services) signal product-market fit

8. Conclusion

Way Security enters a crowded but rapidly expanding identity security market with a differentiated positioning: automating IAM operations rather than competing on IAM software features. The company’s success hinges on:

1. Proving ROI: Demonstrating 3-5x reduction in IAM implementation/operations costs
2. Scaling AI Agent Governance: Capturing the 40:1 gap between AI agent adoption and purpose-built security
3. Avoiding Platform Competition: Maintaining “stack-friendly” positioning as IAM vendors expand into operations automation
4. Executing Go-to-Market: Scaling from dozens to hundreds of enterprise customers with $20M in funding

The $60B identity security market projected by Morgan Stanley (driven by agentic AI) represents a significant opportunity, but Way Security must navigate consolidation (Veza, Strata, CyberArk acquisitions), platform bundling (Microsoft Entra), and well-funded competitors (Silverfort $222M, ConductorOne $111M) to establish a durable market position.

Risk-Adjusted Outlook: Way Security is well-positioned as a specialized automation layer in the identity stack, but faces execution risk scaling from Seed-stage to enterprise-grade vendor. The company’s agentic workflow approach aligns with 2026’s dominant trend (AI agent governance), but must demonstrate measurable ROI against both incumbent IAM vendors and adjacent competitors (Silverfort, Datawiza, ConductorOne).

Appendix A: Market Statistics Summary

Appendix B: Vendor Contact Information

Report Prepared By: Geek Guy Cyber Market Intel
Distribution: Public
Next Update: Q1 2027