Passwords Are Broken: AI Agents Need Identity | Rishi Bhargava, CEO of Descope

Passwords have been the cornerstone of digital identity since the 1970s, but their inherent weakness—shared secrets that can be stolen—has made them a liability for both consumers and enterprises. Rishi Bhargava explains that new applications, especially those built in the last three years, are abandoning passwords in favor of OTPs, social logins, and, increasingly, passkey technology. Descope positions itself as a developer‑first identity platform that lets SaaS products replace traditional login screens with passwordless flows using just a few lines of code. By handling the complex backend of authentication and authorization, Descope frees engineering teams to focus on core product features.

Passkeys combine a large cryptographic secret with biometric or device‑based unlocking, so the user never knows or shares the secret. This eliminates credential reuse and dramatically reduces the attack surface exploited by credential‑stuffing and dark‑web sales. Major providers such as Google and Amazon have demonstrated seamless passkey experiences, allowing users to authenticate on a new device without typing a password. The result is higher conversion rates, lower friction, and a measurable drop in support tickets related to password resets. For enterprises, the shift also means compliance‑friendly authentication that meets modern security standards without sacrificing usability.

The next frontier, according to Bhargava, is identity for AI agents. An agentic identity merges a machine’s OAuth client credentials with the user who authorizes it, enabling both fully autonomous processes and on‑behalf‑of actions. Descope’s platform assigns unique identities to each agent, tracks permissions, and integrates with existing user directories, ensuring that good bots can operate securely while malicious actors are blocked. This future‑proof approach aligns with the broader industry move toward zero‑trust architectures. Companies that adopt such granular identity controls report up to a 70 % reduction in support tickets and faster time‑to‑value for new authentication features.