# NIST Proposes AI Agent Access Safeguards

NIST has proposed 10 design tenets for managing AI-agent identities and access, including unique verifiable identities, least-privilege permissions, short-lived authorization, human review of high-risk actions, independent monitoring, and tamper-evident logs. The guidance is not a solicitation or contract announcement, but it signals emerging federal expectations for AI identity, authorization, and assurance capabilities. NIST’s National Cybersecurity Center of Excellence plans demonstrations to explore supporting standards and technologies.

- Cybersecurity contractors should evaluate whether their AI identity and access-management offerings support the proposed safeguards, particularly verifiable identities, constrained authorization, oversight, and auditability.
- Procurement teams can use the tenets as a reference when shaping AI security requirements and assessing vendors, while recognizing that the guidance is proposed and is not stated as a mandatory federal requirement.
- Organizations may follow NCCoE demonstrations for information on standards and technologies that could inform future implementations and procurement decisions.

**Jurisdictions:** federal
**Industries:** Information Technology
**Topics:** Cybersecurity, Artificial Intelligence
**Published:** October 30, 2026

### Government Entities
- National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)
- National Cybersecurity Center of Excellence (NCCoE)

### Sources
- [
		NIST outlines 10 design tenets to strengthen AI agent identity and access management, proposes safeguards - Industrial Cyber	](https://industrialcyber.co/nist/nist-outlines-10-design-tenets-to-strengthen-ai-agent-identity-and-access-management-proposes-safeguards) - Industrial Cyber