AI is reshaping the internet.
From hyper-realistic deepfakes to AI-generated content, synthetic identities, and automated agents, we’re entering an era where it’s harder than ever to know what or who is real.
This rapid change raises a critical question:
How do we maintain trust in digital interactions when AI can generate convincing people, content, and behavior on demand?
During a recent live conversation with Charles Walton (former SVP of Identity at Avast and Mastercard) and Martin Kuppinger (Founder at KuppingerCole), this issue took center stage, and a clear insight emerged:
Decentralized identity technology provides the trust infrastructure necessary for an AI-powered internet.
Can We Trust AI Agents to Act on Our Behalf?
As AI agents begin handling tasks such as purchases, bookings, and account management, trust becomes increasingly critical.
How can a retailer know that an AI agent is truly acting on behalf of a real customer? Did the customer authorize this specific transaction? Is the agent operating within agreed limits?
Verifiable credentials make this possible.
These tamper-proof digital files containing identity and permission data act as verifiable delegations of authority, binding a user's consent to an agent's identity and role.
They can be used to prove that an agent...
- ...is tied to a real user or organization.
- ...has been granted explicit permissions to perform specific actions, like "this agent can make purchases up to $200 at this retailer".
- ...is operating within a defined scope, context, and timeframe.
These credentials can be attached to every transaction the agent initiates, giving recipient systems a fast, reliable way to verify not just who the agent is, but what it’s allowed to do, and on whose behalf.
💡 We’ve just published a whitepaper that explores how verifiable ID credentials can anchor trust in AI-driven payments. It covers key use cases, benefits, and how to implement this using verifiable credentials.
AIdentity
The future won’t be human-only.
AI will mediate more and more of our interactions, from banking and healthcare to customer service and travel.
That makes decentralized identity more than a privacy tool. It’s becoming a foundational component of digital infrastructure.
Martin Kuppinger emphasized that we must begin thinking in terms of "AIdentity", the intersection of AI and identity.
This includes not only verifying AI agents themselves but also managing the relationship between users and their AI-powered assistants and ensuring that personal data remains protected in machine-learning contexts.
Done right, this trust layer doesn’t just block fraud, it unlocks better experiences:
- Faster onboarding and fewer drop-offs.
- Richer personalization with stronger privacy.
- Confidence in who (or what) you’re interacting with across platforms.
As we navigate the next wave of digital transformation, decentralized identity offers a rare combination of security, privacy, and usability, a necessary upgrade to the trust architecture of the internet itself.
