Santosh Swarna Sathya Chamarthy

Security-First Agentic AI: Identity, PAM, and Zero Trust by Design

Abstract:

As agentic AI transforms enterprise software development, autonomous systems are gaining the ability to generate code, execute commands, provision cloud infrastructure, and interact with production environments. This evolution introduces significant security challenges, particularly around identity governance, privileged access management (PAM), and unauthorized access. Industry research cited in this work projects machine-to-human identity ratios reaching as high as 82:1, highlighting the growing importance of governing non-human identities. 

This session presents a Zero-Trust-by-Design framework that embeds identity verification, least-privilege access, and continuous security enforcement directly into software architecture rather than introducing controls after deployment. Drawing on three enterprise architectural case studies, the presentation examines security governance across multi-tenant SaaS platform migration, platform-team restructuring, and agentic AI-integrated development workflows. 

The discussion introduces five foundational security principles: identity-first access design, architectural integration of PAM, independent governance of AI agent identities, centralized platform-team ownership, and continuous auditable verification. Practical architectural patterns demonstrate how tenant-scoped access controls, just-in-time privilege elevation, time-bound credentials, and independent revocation mechanisms can help prevent unauthorized access and reduce credential-related exposure. 

Attendees will explore a practical decision framework for evaluating privileged AI agent activities, enforcing access boundaries, and aligning autonomous development workflows with enterprise security requirements. The session provides actionable guidance for cloud architects, security engineers, DevSecOps practitioners, and platform engineering teams seeking to adopt agentic AI while maintaining strong identity governance, operational accountability, and scalable Zero Trust security. 
 

Profile:

 

 

 

 

Santosh Swarna Sathya Chamarthy is an accomplished technology and program management leader with extensive experience driving large-scale digital transformation, cloud modernization, and AI-driven platform initiatives across global organizations. With a strong foundation in product delivery, technical program management, and Agile execution, he has consistently led cross-functional teams to deliver innovative, customer-centric solutions that improve operational efficiency, accelerate product adoption, and enhance customer satisfaction. His expertise spans

cloud-native architectures, AI/ML integration, platform engineering, and enterprise-scale program governance, supported by certifications including PMP, CSM, ITIL, and AWS Solutions Architect Associate. 

Currently serving as Senior Technical Program Manager at Saviynt, Santosh leads strategic AI Security Platform initiatives focused on integrating AI capabilities into identity governance and security platforms. He has successfully driven Copilot integrations and implemented agile methodologies for AI health monitoring deployments, enabling faster issue resolution and maintaining high platform reliability. Prior to Saviynt, he spent several years at Palo Alto Networks where he played a key role in the Strata Cloud Manager (SCM) Platformization initiative. In this role, he collaborated across more than 15 teams to streamline roadmap execution on a unified platform and led licensing platform consolidation efforts that significantly improved customer adoption and purchasing experiences. He also managed AI-powered product integrations and forecasting initiatives that improved operational efficiency and incident response times. 

Santosh has also held leadership positions at Amazon, PayPal, and EMC Documentum (OpenText), where he successfully managed complex software release programs, cloud transformations, payments platform migrations, and enterprise solution deployments. At Amazon, he optimized software release strategies for Fire Tablet products, reducing release timelines and simplifying delivery processes for millions of devices. At PayPal, he led payment notification migration programs while driving Agile delivery practices, performance optimization, and accelerated release cycles. During his long tenure at EMC Documentum, he managed engineering and cloud solution teams supporting energy sector implementations and spearheaded Agile transformation initiatives that improved delivery effectiveness and operational excellence. 

Throughout his career, Santosh has demonstrated a strong ability to align business strategy with technology execution, mentor high-performing teams, and deliver scalable enterprise solutions in fast-paced environments. His technical expertise includes cloud technologies, AWS, Java, RESTful services, JavaScript frameworks, SQL, Selenium, and Agile tools such as JIRA and Rally. Combined with his strategic mindset and proven leadership capabilities, Santosh brings a unique blend of technical depth and program management excellence to organizations focused on innovation, digital transformation, and AI-enabled growth.