Okta expands India operations to secure AI at scale

Okta said it will significantly expand its research and development presence and physical footprint at its Bengaluru campus. The investment reflects the company’s view that India is no longer just a support base but a core engine for global product development.

Since 2023, Okta’s India workforce has grown to around 700 employees. The company now plans to increase headcount by another 50 percent in 2026, with a strong focus on deep-tech engineering and product development roles. These teams will work on both global initiatives and solutions designed for India’s fast-growing digital economy.

The expansion also supports Okta’s broader business goal of scaling its global revenue from USD 5 billion to USD 10 billion, with India positioned as a critical talent hub in that journey.

AI adoption is outpacing security planning

The timing of the announcement reflects a widening gap between AI adoption and security readiness. According to Okta’s research, 91 percent of companies already have AI agents running in production environments. However, only 10 percent have put a security plan in place to manage these non-human identities.

Industry analysts warn that without proper authentication and access controls, as many as 40 percent of AI agent deployments could fail by 2027. This risk is pushing organizations to rethink identity and access management, not just for employees and customers, but also for software-driven agents that can make decisions and take actions on their own.

Stephanie Barnett, vice president of presales and interim general manager for Asia Pacific and Japan at Okta, said more than half of organizations now see modern identity systems as their most important defense in the AI era. She added that securing both human and non-human identities requires a unified identity security fabric.

Building the identity layer for AI

Okta said the expanded Bengaluru facility will focus on developing the foundational identity security fabric needed for this new environment. Engineering teams in India are already working on tools such as Policy Recommender, Governance Analyzer, Identity Threat Protection (ITP), and new capabilities aimed at securing non-human identities.

Shakeel Khan, regional vice president and country manager for Okta India, said the expansion is about innovating at the speed of AI. He pointed to India’s deep talent pool as a key reason the company believes it can tackle the security challenges created by AI agents and an expanding identity surface.

Supporting India’s digital shift

India is at a turning point in its digital transformation, with enterprises accelerating AI adoption while trying to strengthen security foundations. Okta said its work in the country is designed to support this shift by helping organizations unify identity across users, systems, and AI-driven agents.

As it scales in India, Okta plans to follow a partner-first strategy, working closely with companies such as Sonata, Softcell, ACPL, and 22By7. The goal is to enable identity-led transformation across sectors, in India and beyond, as identity becomes central to trust in an AI-driven future.