Why developers are the architects of trust in India's AI revolution

Every day, millions of Indians wake up and unlock their phones with a fingerprint or with facial recognition. They check their bank balance, book a cab, and order groceries- all with a few finger movements. It has also become common to consult AI chatbots for various needs, including medical advice, workout routines, dinner recipes, and movie recommendations.

From UPI transactions to AI-powered customer service, Indian consumers have embraced technology with a level of trust that outpaces much of the world. According to Okta's Customer Identity Trends Report 2025, 67% of Indians trust businesses to protect their data, significantly higher than the global average of 50%. This enthusiasm extends to AI-driven services, with Indian users showing greater openness than their global counterparts to sharing sensitive health and financial data with AI agents.

This high trust, however, comes with immense responsibility. As AI becomes deeply embedded in everything from banking apps to healthcare platforms, the stakes for getting security right have never been higher. And at the heart of this challenge are developers, the architects who build the digital experiences millions of Indians rely on every day.

The trust paradox

While Indian consumers demonstrate remarkable confidence in digital and AI-driven services, they are simultaneously becoming more vigilant. Over 80% of Indian consumers are increasingly concerned about identity fraud and data misuse, rates far higher than global averages. This creates a paradox: high trust coexists with heightened awareness of risk.

This dynamic makes the developer's role critical. Every application, every AI agent, and every digital interaction represents an opportunity to either strengthen or erode that trust. When an AI-powered chatbot accesses a customer's financial records or when an autonomous agent books a meeting on someone's calendar, users need assurance that these actions are secure, authorized, and auditable.

The challenge is compounded by the speed at which AI is being deployed. Organizations across all sectors are racing to integrate AI agents into their workforce and customer service operations. Without proper guardrails, these agents can behave unpredictably, accessing data they shouldn't or performing actions without adequate oversight. The solution lies in establishing clear identities for AI agents and implementing robust systems to verify those identities at an enterprise level.

Identity as the foundation of AI security

Here's where things get technically interesting. Traditional security was designed for humans. You log in with a password, maybe get a code on your phone, and you're in. But AI agents don't work like that. They operate across multiple systems simultaneously. They don't sleep. They can execute thousands of actions in seconds. And increasingly, they're acting on our behalf without asking permission each time.

This is why Okta, a leader in identity security, has become essential to India's developer ecosystem. The company realised early that AI fundamentally changed the identity and access management game. It's not enough to verify that a human user is who they claim to be. You also need to verify that AI agents have clear identities, proper authorization, and strict guardrails.

Consider a real-world scenario: a healthcare startup building an AI assistant for doctors. The AI needs to access patient records from the hospital's system, schedule appointments on the doctor's calendar, and send prescription refills to the pharmacy network. That's three different platforms, each with sensitive data and strict compliance requirements.

Using Okta's Cross App Access, developers can build this so the AI moves seamlessly between systems without requiring the doctor to log in repeatedly. But here's the crucial part: every action the AI takes is tied to the doctor's verified identity. The system knows exactly who authorized what, when, and why. If the AI tries to access something it shouldn't, the guardrails kick in immediately.

The Four Requirements for Developers

Imagine a large retail company where a central AI orchestration layer manages the entire supply chain, utilizing various agents: one for inventory tracking, another for logistics, and a third for a personalized store manager chatbot. This complexity requires a holistic security model, not just a piecemeal approach.

When a store manager logs into the chatbot to ask, "What's the optimal stock for summer shirts in Mumbai" we use User Authentication to ensure a trusted, personalized experience. Furthermore, when the inventory agent needs to update stock across third-party logistics systems or notify a warehouse manager via Slack, it can't rely on risky, hardcoded tokens. This is where Token Vault steps in, enabling agents to securely access these external services on behalf of the user in just a few lines of code.

But security is more than just secure login and connection. It’s about governance, control, and data access. If the inventory agent decides a massive, multi-million dollar order is necessary due to a perceived shortage, developers need a safety net. This is where Async Authorization shines: it allows the agent’s autonomous workflow to be securely paused, requiring explicit “human-in-the-loop” approval from a verified human before the critical transaction proceeds.

Finally, to inform its decision, the inventory agent uses Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) to query internal product catalogs and regional sales reports. Fine-Grained Authorization (FGA) for RAG is non-negotiable here. It prevents data leakage by ensuring the agent can only retrieve content that the requesting user is authorized to see (like preventing a regional manager's agent from accessing confidential global pricing data). By implementing all four capabilities of Okta’s Auth0 for AI Agents, developers can deploy truly autonomous systems without sacrificing accountability or control.

The framework integrates directly into the development tools that Indian developers already use, like Langchain and Vercel. This means building secure AI applications doesn't require reinventing the wheel. Developers can plug in Okta's authentication and authorization components and focus on what they do best: creating great user experiences.

India's developer moment

India's developer ecosystem is at an inflection point. With one of the world's fastest-growing communities of software builders, AI specialists, and cloud architects, Indian developers are integral to the country's digital transformation. They're not just building apps for the Indian market. They're creating products that compete globally.

When it comes to AI, Okta's identity-first approach gives Indian developers a significant advantage. By embedding secure authentication and authorization from day one, the "shift left" approach, as it's called in the industry, developers can innovate quickly without compromising on security. They can experiment with cutting-edge AI features, knowing that Okta's guardrails are protecting users and data at every step.

The regulatory environment is evolving, too. Most Indians expect both government and organizations to regulate AI responsibly and be transparent about when AI is being used. This means developers must build with disclosure and consent mechanisms baked in. Okta's tools make this easier, providing frameworks for clearly communicating what data is collected, how it's used, and how AI influences decisions.

Building tomorrow's trust today

As AI agents become more sophisticated, the line between human and machine actions will continue to blur. AI will increasingly act on our behalf, making decisions, accessing information, and interacting with services autonomously. This makes secure identity management not just a technical requirement but a social imperative.

Okta understands this responsibility. That's why the company has invested heavily in making identity security accessible to developers of all skill levels. The tools are designed to be plug-and-play, reducing complexity without sacrificing security. Developers can implement enterprise-grade protection without needing to become security experts themselves.

Indian developers are not just writing code. They're architecting the digital infrastructure that hundreds of millions of people will rely on. Every authentication flow they design, every permission they set, every audit trail they create, these decisions compound over time, building either trust or vulnerability.