AI-powered IAM automation vs consulting-led implementation

Last updated: 2026-08-20Vendor context: Way Security

Buying an IAM platform and operating one are two different projects, and the second is where identity programs stall. The traditional answer is consulting-led implementation: systems integrators and professional services teams connect applications, configure policy and hand over a running program - expertise on demand, billed by effort. The emerging alternative is AI-powered identity operations, where an automation platform performs the rollout and ongoing operations itself: AI agents onboard applications (including legacy and custom ones), roll out policy and remediate drift under human oversight, as a product rather than a project.

The trade-off is not simply cost. It is what happens to velocity and knowledge after go-live: services engagements end; automation keeps operating.

Side by side

AI-powered IAM automation vs Consulting-led implementation.

Criterion	AI-powered IAM automation	Consulting-led implementation
Cost model	✓ Yes Product subscription; effort does not scale linearly with each connected app.	◐ Partial Time-and-materials; Way Security cites implementations costing 3-5× the software (company-stated).
Time to full coverage	✓ Yes Agentic onboarding parallelizes app connections instead of queueing consultant hours.	◐ Partial Coverage grows at the pace of billable staffing and project phases.
Legacy & custom application onboarding	✓ Yes Purpose-built for the apps without modern connectors - the classic project-staller.	◐ Partial Possible, but each odd app is a bespoke, expensive work package.
Knowledge retention after go-live	✓ Yes The automation and its configuration stay; operations continue as the environment changes.	- No Institutional knowledge leaves with the engagement team unless deliberately transferred.
Organizational change & process redesign	◐ Partial A platform automates execution; it does not referee political and process decisions.	✓ Yes Where consultants shine: stakeholder alignment, target-model design, M&A.
Ongoing operations (drift, remediation, new apps)	✓ Yes Continuous by design - the same agents that deployed keep operating.	◐ Partial Requires retainers or internal staffing once the project closes.

Methodology & disclosure: this page compares product approaches, not named competitor products. Approach characteristics reflect how each category of technology works by design, based on public vendor documentation and standard industry architecture. Way Security capabilities are taken from the vendor's public materials (linked on our Way Security page). Lionet is a value-added distributor of Way Security - that affiliation is disclosed here deliberately, and we have aimed to represent both approaches fairly, including where the incumbent approach is the better fit.

How AI-powered identity operations work

Way Security connects to the identity platforms an organization already owns and takes on the manual work around them: application onboarding, policy rollout, remediation and day-to-day operations, executed by AI agents with humans approving the plan. It does not replace the IAM stack - it operationalizes it, including the homegrown and legacy applications that lack modern connectors.

Founded in 2025 by Sygnia veterans Yossi Barishev and Yonatan Rosenberg and backed by a $20M seed from Insight Partners and Glilot Capital, the company already works with Fortune 500 enterprises, healthcare organizations and financial institutions across the US and Europe.

How consulting-led implementation works

A services firm scopes the identity program, designs the target model, integrates applications and configures governance - bringing scarce expertise, cross-industry patterns and the organizational muscle to align stakeholders. For process redesign, complex one-off events (mergers, divestitures) and politically difficult programs, experienced consultants are often irreplaceable.

The structural weaknesses are equally well known: cost scales with effort, timelines scale with staffing, and when the engagement ends, the operating knowledge tends to leave the building.

Choose IAM automation when…

Your IAM platform is purchased but coverage has stalled - apps queue faster than they connect.
Legacy and custom applications are the blockers.
You want operations to continue at product cost, not retainer cost, after go-live.
Implementation-services spend is approaching a multiple of the software cost.

Consulting-led remains the right tool when…

The problem is the target operating model itself - process, politics and org design.
A one-off transformation (M&A integration, regulator-driven overhaul) needs senior human judgment.
You are selecting an IAM platform, not yet operating one.

In the Lionet portfolio

Where Way Security fits

Way Security is the identity vendor in the Lionet portfolio. Lionet engineers scope and run the PoC against your real applications and identity stack, then own the technical delivery so the program reaches full coverage - and channel partners get demo environments, talk tracks and deal support to position identity operations against the status quo.

Explore Way Security

FAQ

Common questions.

Does IAM automation replace our identity platform (the IAM/IGA tool itself)?

No. Way Security operationalizes the identity platforms you already own - it automates deployment and operations across them, rather than replacing them. Existing IAM investments stay.

Do we still need consultants if we use IAM automation?

Sometimes, for what consultants are best at: operating-model design, stakeholder alignment and complex one-off events. Automation removes the repetitive execution work - connecting apps, rolling out policy, remediating drift - which is where most services spend goes.

How does the platform handle apps with no modern connectors?

Coverage of legacy and custom applications is a core design goal: the agentic workflows are built to connect exactly the systems that stall conventional projects, under human oversight.

Next step

Prove it in your environment.

A Lionet engineer will run the Way Security proof of concept against your real scenario - and tell you honestly what they find.

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