If you ask me for my customer story of the year, I’d start with the team that stopped Mythos inside a Project Glasswing member’s environment. AI is everywhere—from the headlines to the boardroom. Organizations know they need to secure AI agents and defend against AI-powered attacks. What’s less clear is how to do it effectively. Early successes are beginning to emerge, and I’m eager to hear from others about what’s working and celebrate these wins.
Behind every tech stack is a team, a champion, an advocate, a human driving positive outcomes: a migration completed faster than anyone expected, a service account brought under control after years of being overlooked, an advocate who turned Identity Security into a genuine organizational priority.
Last year we launched the Identity Icons Awards, our way of recognizing the people and teams who are defining what exceptional Identity Security looks like. Our inaugural winners included teams from UBS, Absa Group, General Motors, ANZ Bank, and individual leaders like Cecil Pineda, CISO at R1, and Steve Rennick, Senior Leader of IT Architecture at Ciena. Meeting them and hearing how they’d built the case for Identity Security inside their own organizations was one of the highlights of my year.
I’m excited to announce that we’re doing it again—and this time I’d love your help finding our honorees for 2026.
Nominations for the Identity Icons Awards 2026 are now open
If you know someone (or you are someone) doing exceptional work in Identity Security—whether that’s a CISO setting the strategic direction, a practitioner pushing a rollout across a complex hybrid environment, or a partner who’s become a true advocate for the work—this is your chance to put them forward. Nominations are open until October 1st, and category information can be found below.
We’ve kept the categories that resonated most with this community last year and added one that reflects where the industry is heading:
- CISO of the Year for strategic leadership in Identity Security
- Identity Security Champion of the Year for advancing Identity Security practices at scale
- Innovator of the Year for creative, forward-looking deployments of Identity Security, such as Zero Trust and PAM
- Business Value Award for demonstrating clear financial and business impact through Identity Security
- Resilience Award for driving large-scale Identity Security transformation with measurable cultural and technical impact
- Silverfort Advocate of the Year for the champions who give us feedback, collaborate deeply, and help shape where we go next
- AI Defender Award (NEW for 2026) recognizes those proactively securing AI agents and machine identities against identity-based threats and misuse
That last one is new. The conversations I’ve had with customers this year have shifted from “how do we secure our people and our service accounts” to “how do we secure the agents we’re building as well as everything else.” We believe the teams figuring that out deserve recognition.
Why nominate an Identity Icon?
Nominating a peer, a colleague, or even yourself is a chance to have their work seen, shared, and celebrated by a community that understands exactly how hard it is to get Identity Security done right at scale. Whoever comes to mind for you, help get them the recognition they deserve by submitting your nominations today.
Save the date for the winner ceremony
We’ll be announcing this year’s winners live at the Identity Icons Awards ceremony on December 8th, 6–9pm, at Caspian’s at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. I hope to see many of you there.
Here’s to another year of celebrating the people behind Identity Security.
