As artificial intelligence increasingly integrates into workplace operations, a new frontier in enterprise security is emerging: managing AI agents as bona fide employees. NewCore, a cybersecurity startup, has just raised $66 million in funding to tackle this challenge head-on by creating identity management systems tailored specifically for AI-driven digital workers. This move signals a paradigm shift in how companies will authenticate, govern, and control AI agents that collaborate alongside human staff.
AI Agents: The New Workforce Demanding Identity Management
Enterprises are no longer viewing AI tools as mere software utilities but as active participants in business processes. For example, Goldman Sachs experimented with an AI coding agent named Devin as a new employee, and McKinsey revealed that approximately 25,000 AI agents are already working alongside its 60,000 human workforce. This trend underscores the growing complexity in managing not just human identities but also those of autonomous AI agents.
NewCore’s founders argue that traditional identity platforms, many of which have been built and evolved over the past two decades, are ill-equipped to handle this new reality. These legacy systems were designed primarily for human employees and, at best, treat AI agents as secondary service accounts or machine credentials. As AI agents multiply, this approach risks creating security vulnerabilities and operational inefficiencies.
NewCore’s Vision: Treating AI Agents as First-Class Identities
Founded by cybersecurity veterans including Zohar Alon, NewCore is pioneering a platform that treats AI agents as first-class identities with dedicated permissions, lifecycle management, and revocation controls. Unlike conventional identity providers, NewCore’s system integrates human and AI identities within a unified framework designed from the ground up for a hybrid workforce.
One of the startup’s key innovations is a “split-key” architecture that divides critical identity credentials between the customer and NewCore’s platform. This design mitigates the risk of a single point of compromise, a crucial consideration when managing autonomous agents with access to sensitive enterprise resources.
NewCore also offers integrations—termed “Agentic Skills”—for popular AI coding assistants such as Anthropic’s Claude Code, OpenAI’s Codex, and Cursor. These integrations enable AI agents to access corporate systems as managed identities, eliminating the need for manually distributed credentials and enhancing security oversight.
The Human Oversight Layer in an AI-Driven Workplace
Despite the autonomy of AI agents, NewCore emphasizes the importance of human supervision. Its mobile app allows employees to grant, review, and revoke AI agent access in real time, providing a critical human-in-the-loop control mechanism. This oversight is vital as enterprises deploy increasingly autonomous systems that can act independently across complex networks.
By embedding these controls, NewCore aims to prevent scenarios where AI agents could inadvertently or maliciously escalate privileges or access unauthorized data. This approach reflects a broader industry recognition that AI, while powerful, requires robust governance frameworks to manage risks effectively.
Funding and Market Potential in a Rapidly Evolving Landscape
NewCore’s $66 million seed round, led by Cyberstarts with participation from Index Ventures and Evolution Equity Partners, values the company at $300 million. The startup has already grown to over 50 employees across the U.S. and Israel and is working with a mix of early customers and design partners to refine its platform. Commercial rollout is expected to begin this summer.
Industry leaders like TCS chairman N. Chandrasekaran have predicted that AI agents could soon rival or even surpass human employees in certain organizations, particularly in tech-heavy environments. This forecast amplifies the urgency for identity systems that can scale securely and efficiently to accommodate a workforce where software agents are as prevalent as humans.
Why Identity Management for AI Agents Is a Critical Enterprise Challenge
The rise of AI agents introduces new complexities in cybersecurity. Unlike traditional software, AI agents can operate autonomously, make decisions, and interact dynamically with enterprise systems. This autonomy demands identity solutions that can:
- Authenticate AI agents uniquely and securely
- Define granular permissions tailored to AI capabilities and roles
- Monitor AI agent activity and detect anomalies in real time
- Enable swift revocation of access if agents behave unexpectedly or are compromised
Without such capabilities, companies risk exposure to insider threats, data breaches, and compliance violations. NewCore’s approach aims to build these guardrails proactively, anticipating that AI agents will soon become a standard component of the enterprise workforce.
Looking Ahead: The Future of Enterprise Security in an AI-Integrated World
As AI agents proliferate, the traditional boundaries between human and machine workers blur, demanding a rethinking of identity and access management. NewCore’s emergence highlights a broader shift toward recognizing AI agents as entities requiring the same rigorous security protocols as human employees.
This evolution will likely spur innovation across the cybersecurity industry, prompting legacy providers to adapt or risk obsolescence. For enterprises, investing in AI-aware identity management solutions today could be pivotal in safeguarding tomorrow’s hybrid workforce.
