Across industries, from financial services and healthcare to sports and aviation, identity is now the frontline of security, trust, and customer experience. Evolving threats demand constant innovation, with biometrics, password-less authentication, AI, and interoperability driving the next era of secure, seamless identity.
Identity leaders representing multiple industries have delivered their early comments on the modern security threat landscape and the duality of innovation and security to open the conference! If you missed their presentations, read a summary below.
Susan Koski – Assessing Modern Security Risks for Identity
Susan Koski framed identity as the new security perimeter, stressing that traditional defences are no longer sufficient against today’s threats such as credential theft, valid account abuse, and AI-driven impersonation attacks.
Key points included:
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Passwords, a decades-old technology, must give way to password-less, phishing-resistant authentication.
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Organisations should adopt continuous assessment models to calculate user trust scores and detect anomalies.
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Effective identity security requires identity lifecycle management, least-privilege access, and just-in-time privileged access rather than persistent credentials.
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With the rise of AI agents and bots, security teams must use machine learning, analytics, and automation to stay ahead of attackers.
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Non-human and workforce identity management remains underdeveloped, with too many manual processes.
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Ultimately, identity is not just operational—it is core and strategic, requiring constant evolution.
Kevin Pope, Vice President & CIO, AMB Sports & Entertainment
Kevin Pope shared how AMB Sports & Entertainment transformed the fan experience through technology-driven stadium innovation.
Highlights included:
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From the outset, the stadium pioneered paperless and cashless operations, with mobile ticketing and over 100 turnstiles supporting seamless entry.
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Deployment of frictionless security screening improved crowd safety and efficiency.
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Integration of facial recognition for stadium access, tied to Ticketmaster accounts, enabled touchless, rapid entry via Delta “fly-through” lanes.
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Innovations extended to self-service cocktail machines, activated via facial recognition and credit card verification.
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The stadium’s infrastructure—five miles of fiber optic cable—was designed for future flexibility and scalability.
Marcelo Mota – Unlocking Seamless Passenger Journeys
Marcelo Mota emphasised the dual imperative of customer service and security in aviation, guided by ICAO standards.
Key takeaways:
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Airports are advancing e-gate solutions, fast lanes, and biometric verification to reduce friction while enhancing security.
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A colour-coded system helps identify passenger processing pain points.
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Success depends not only on technology but also on trained staff, a strong security culture, and modern infrastructure.
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Identity technologies today already deliver stress-free, streamlined security, but resilience requires integration with business continuity, disaster recovery, and emergency processes.
Jay Meier, Chief Identity strategist, FaceTec – Securing Identity in the Age of Credential Abuse
Jay Meier highlighted the vulnerabilities of identity credentials and the urgent need to bind them securely to biometric data.
Key insights:
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Attackers increasingly target valid credentials, exploiting weaknesses in identity data circulation.
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Trustworthy identity data must originate from known, legal government providers, and be biometrically bound.
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ePassports provide a model of secure identity: NFC chips contain immutable, issuer-signed data and standardized, viewable face photos.
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Challenges remain with hardware requirements and costs, but new solutions like biometric-signed barcodes can offer the same security properties at scale.
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The future lies in ensuring that identity data and biometric verification are inseparable, reducing opportunities for credential fraud.
