Identity Isn’t Just Nuts and Bolts

It’s What We Build With Them

This article is based on my opening remarks at Identiverse® 2024.

Every year, Identiverse® is a deep dive into the Nuts, Bolts, and Tools of digital identity—what we have, how we use it, and how we make it all work. That’s important. But in 2024, something felt different. And those changes are playing out today.

Last year, the conversation started to shift from talking about the tools to talking about what we’re building with them.

From Infrastructure to Impact

Think about the Lovell Telescope. When it was built in 1957, it was the largest fully steerable radio telescope in the world. But the real story wasn’t about the metal and mechanics. It was about what that technology-enabled: discovering pulsars, tracking space probes, and expanding our understanding of the universe. Most of us aren’t building radio telescopes. But we are building digital places that people rely on every day:

  • Opening bank accounts
  • Accessing healthcare
  • Connecting with family and friends
  • Enjoying entertainment
  • Living increasingly digital lives

The question is: Are we designing these places to be inclusive, accessible, and (dare I say) even delightful?

The Expanding Scope of Identity

For years, digital identity has been framed primarily as a security problem. And yes, we’re still using identity to build security solutions—strong authentication, fraud detection, trust frameworks. These things matter.

But identity is also at the foundation of:

  • Privacy: Who gets to see what? How do we prevent surveillance and data misuse?
  • Safety: How do we prevent harassment and impersonation? How do we verify people without making them more vulnerable?
  • User experience: How do we make digital spaces seamless, intuitive, and—dare I say it—pleasant to use?

And here’s the thing: you can’t have security, privacy, or safety without identity. You need to know who (or what) you’re dealing with before you can make meaningful choices about access, permissions, and protections.

But the way we talk about identity often lags behind its reality. We’re still treating it as a set of backend plumbing decisions, when in reality, it shapes the entire digital experience.

If we get it right, identity can enable trust, empower users, and unlock new possibilities. If we get it wrong, it becomes just another bureaucratic barrier; one more frustrating hoop to jump through.

The Big Shift: AI, Compliance, and the Future

At the same time, we’re in the middle of a generational shift. AI, for example, is changing the way identity is managed, verified, and even faked. It’s also changing the risks. As AI-generated deepfakes and identity fraud become more sophisticated, trust signals that worked in the past may not be reliable anymore.

Meanwhile, compliance landscapes are shifting (again), and new fields are emerging at the intersection of identity, security, and safety. The organizations that get ahead of these trends by investing in adaptive, user-centric identity solutions will have a major advantage. The ones that ignore them? They’ll be playing catch-up in an increasingly hostile digital environment. Identity is going through its own version of punctuated equilibrium. We had our long periods of stability, and now we’re disrupted by rapid, transformative change.

The Call to Action: What Are We Building?

So, as we keep talking about the Nuts, Bolts, and Tools of digital identity, let’s make sure we’re also talking about what we’re building and whether it serves the people who have to live in it. Because at the end of the day, digital identity isn’t just infrastructure. It’s the foundation for everything we do online. And if we’re not designing for the people who rely on it, we’re missing the point.

If you’re interested in other thoughts I have on digital identity, privacy, and corporate governance, I encourage you to read through this site or follow me on LinkedIn .

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