Most companies know how many employees they have. When it comes to service accounts, technical users, and other non-human identities, the situation is often different.
Many of them develop over the course of years, gain access to critical systems, and eventually fall through the cracks. This is precisely where risks arise that often remain hidden in traditional IAM processes.
144:1 NHIsper human identity in enterprise environments
62% of cloud-based NHIs have had no activity for 90 days but retain full access
44% growth in NHIs over the course of a year
Source: Entro Labs H1 2025
NHI Management refers to the structured management of all digital identities that do not belong to a human being.
Service accounts, API accesses, automations, and AI agents are created on an ongoing basis during operations and often remain in place for years.
Often with broad permissions and no clear sense of who is responsible. This makes NHI management one of the most critical unresolved issues in modern IAM strategy.
NHIs are created in cloud consoles, CI/CD pipelines, and SaaS integrations.
The challenge is that many of these identities never appear in IAM, IGA, or PAM processes. No one regularly reviews them or recertifies their access. And often, it’s not even clear who is responsible.
What was long considered a technical issue is increasingly becoming a governance and compliance issue due to NIS2 and DORA.
They are invisible
Many technical identities are created and then forgotten. They continue to have access to systems and data, even though it is often no longer clear who originally created them or who is responsible for them today.
They are overly privileged
Most NHIs have more permissions than necessary because there are no guidelines in place. What also happens is that permissions are later reduced again. As a result, over the years, identities end up with significantly more access than originally intended.
They are subject to regulation
Whether an identity is human or technical often does not matter during an audit. What matters is whether access can be traced, responsibilities have been defined, and risks can be controlled. NIS2 and DORA require demonstrable control over all identities, including machine-generated ones.
From the initial assessment to full integration into your IAM infrastructure: We’re with you every step of the way.
01 - NHI Discovery Assessment
We conduct a structured analysis of your environment and identify technical identities in Active Directory, cloud platforms, SaaS applications, and automation systems.
Result: A comprehensive NHI inventory with prioritized recommendations for action
02 - NHI Governance & Ownership
Technical identities require the same fundamental principles as human identities: We help establish the necessary governance structures.
Result: Clear responsibilities and defined processes for managing technical identities.
03 - NHI Advisory for Regulated Industries
NIS2, DORA, and other regulatory requirements are increasing the pressure on companies to demonstrate transparency and control over digital identities. We help translate regulatory requirements into practical measures.
Result: Technical and organizational measures tailored to your regulatory situation.
04 - AI Agent Governance
Microsoft Copilot Agents, OpenAI Agents, Power Platform Workflows: each of these agents is a new machine identity. We are developing the governance framework for the next generation of machine identities.
Result: AI agents with owner, lifecycle, and audit trail in the existing IAM system.
05 - Agent Discovery & Visibility
Many companies are unsure exactly which AI agents or automation processes are already in use. We provide transparency regarding existing agents and help identify risks early on.
Result: A foundation for governance, compliance, and future decisions.
That is why we do not rely on off-the-shelf solutions, but instead develop an approach that fits your existing infrastructure, processes, and requirements.
Promote transparency
What kinds of non-human identities actually exist?
We identify technical identities in cloud platforms, on-premises systems, SaaS applications, automation tools, and AI environments.
Understanding Risks
Not every technical identity poses the same risk.
We evaluate existing NHIs in terms of their authorizations, their criticality, and any potential areas requiring action.
Define responsibilities
Who is responsible? What rules apply? And how will technical identities be managed in the future?
Together, we develop governance structures that are tailored to your organization.
Integrate into processes
For governance to work in the long term, technical identities must be integrated into existing IAM and IGA processes.
We assist with integration into existing structures and lay the groundwork for traceability, auditability, and compliance.
Service accounts, technical users, and API access have been a standard part of IAM projects for years.
AI agents are giving rise to a new generation of digital identities: systems that not only access data but can also perform tasks independently and prepare decisions.
The challenge remains the same:
Accountability, transparency, and clear rules must be ensured.
Most companies don't know the answer. That's exactly why every NHI program starts with the same question: What actually exists?
Our NHI Discovery Assessment lays the groundwork for finding out exactly that.