AI as Employees: NewCore Raises $66M to Manage Agent Identities

What Happened?

NewCore, a San Francisco-based startup, has announced a $66 million Series A funding round led by Sequoia Capital. The company has developed a platform that grants digital identities to AI agents, enabling organizations to manage permissions, authentication, and auditing of these 'virtual employees' similarly to how they do with humans. This round is one of the largest Series A in the AI security space in 2026, reflecting the growing urgency to solve identity challenges in a world where autonomous agents are proliferating.

According to TechCrunch, NewCore argues that the next big challenge in enterprise security will be managing AI agents, not people. The platform integrates with active directory systems like Microsoft Active Directory and cloud identity providers such as Okta or Azure AD, assigning temporary credentials that rotate automatically. This allows granular control over what data each agent can access, for how long, and under what conditions. The startup was founded by former employees of Palo Alto Networks and Okta, giving it credibility in the security space.

Why Is This Important?

The proliferation of AI agents—from customer service chatbots to autonomous coding assistants like GitHub Copilot—is blurring the line between human users and software. According to a 2025 Gartner report, 40% of workplace interactions are expected to involve AI agents by 2028. Without proper identity management, these agents can become attack vectors or violate access policies, as happened in 2024 when a misconfigured agent at a fintech company exposed data of millions of customers.

Companies like Salesforce and Microsoft have already begun integrating AI agents into their platforms, but they lack a unified framework for their identity. For example, Microsoft Copilot for Azure allows creating custom agents, but its identity management is basic. NewCore fills that gap, offering granular control similar to traditional Identity and Access Management (IAM) systems but tailored for autonomous agents. The platform also provides comprehensive audit logs, essential for complying with regulations like GDPR or the EU AI Act, which require traceability of automated decisions.

Market Implications

• Security: Misconfigured AI agents could expose sensitive data. NewCore mitigates this with least-privilege policies and credential rotation, reducing the risk of lateral movement in case of compromise. A 2025 IBM Security study estimates that 60% of AI-related breaches were due to incorrect permission configurations.
• Regulatory Compliance: The EU AI Act, in effect since 2025, requires that automated decisions be auditable. NewCore's platform provides detailed logs of every agent action, facilitating compliance demonstrations to regulators.
• Scalability: As companies deploy hundreds or thousands of agents, manual management becomes unfeasible. Identity automation is key. For example, a logistics company might have agents managing inventory, shipping, and customer service, each with different access levels. NewCore allows creating policies that adjust dynamically based on context.

What Should Readers Know?

NewCore is not alone in this space. Otorio, known for OT security, has shown interest in AI identities but has not yet launched a product. Cybereason has announced a partnership with NewCore to integrate threat detection. However, there is still no industry standard. The company plans to use the funds to expand its engineering and sales teams, aiming to double its headcount from 50 to 100 employees by 2027. Sequoia Capital, which has backed companies like Stripe and DoorDash, sees NewCore's potential to become the Okta for AI agents.

Nevertheless, some analysts warn that AI identity management could face cultural resistance: security teams are not used to treating agents as 'employees.' Additionally, integration with legacy systems can be complex. A 2026 Forrester report notes that 70% of companies still manage AI agents with generic service accounts, posing a significant risk. NewCore must demonstrate that its solution is easy to implement and offers a clear return on investment, such as reducing security incidents.

"The future of work includes not only humans but also autonomous agents. Managing their identity is as critical as managing our own." — NewCore statement in its press release.

For companies already using AI assistants, this is a call to review their access policies. The $66 million investment indicates that the market trusts this problem will grow exponentially. According to PitchBook data, funding in AI security startups reached $4.2 billion in the first half of 2026, up 35% from the same period in 2025. NewCore is well-positioned to capitalize on this trend but must execute quickly to establish leadership before giants like Microsoft or CrowdStrike enter this niche aggressively.