Brad Kirkpatrick

The 7 Pillars of IAM Success

A Strategic Playbook for Modern Cybersecurity Leaders

Identity and Access Management (IAM) has become one of the most critical disciplines in modern cybersecurity. It now defines how organizations protect data, operate securely at scale, and enable digital business. It underpins security principles like Zero Trust, informs emerging practices such as Identity Threat Detection and Response (ITDR) and Identity Security Posture Management (ISPM), and increasingly sits at the center of board-level risk conversations.

Yet for all of its strategic importance, IAM is largely underutilized.

In many organizations, IAM is still treated as an operational function measured by ticket throughput, funded as a cost center, and expected to absorb enterprise risk without enterprise-level authority or support. The result is a security discipline that carries enormous responsibility, but little influence, and programs that struggle to demonstrate value beyond compliance and control.

The 7 Pillars of IAM Success was written to confront that gap.

This book is a strategic playbook for IAM leaders and CISOs who recognize that identity has become foundational to cybersecurity, but who also know that their IAM programs are not delivering the business impact, security outcomes, or organizational credibility they should. It offers a different way to think about IAM. Rather than focusing on tools and implementation strategy, it emphasizes leadership, accountability, and value creation.

At its core, this book argues that IAM outcomes are shaped less by technology choices and more by how the discipline is led. The most persistent IAM failures do not originate in missing features or immature platforms. They emerge from unclear ownership, fragmented accountability, misaligned incentives, and operating models that prioritize activity over results. When IAM is treated as an operational function instead of a strategic one, even the best technology stacks underperform.

To address this, the book introduces a practical leadership framework, referred to as the IAM Value Engine™, that helps leaders connect IAM decisions directly to three outcomes that matter at the executive level: enabling the business, improving security posture, and accelerating digital transformation. Rather than treating these goals as trade-offs, the framework shows how mature IAM programs can achieve all three simultaneously.

This perspective reflects the reality of modern enterprises. Identity is no longer limited to employees and contractors. It now includes partners, customers, non-human identities, and AI-driven access. As traditional network boundaries have eroded, access itself has become the primary control point. IAM is no longer adjacent to cybersecurity; it has become one of its defining control planes.

At the same time, The 7 Pillars of IAM Success is deeply grounded in the lived experience of IAM leaders.

Many IAM professionals are expected to manage enterprise-wide risk without direct authority over applications, data owners, or business processes. They are accountable for outcomes they cannot unilaterally enforce. Too often, they are promoted for technical expertise but left without guidance on how to operate as enterprise leaders, how to influence stakeholders, establish governance, and build trust across security, IT, and the business.

This book is designed to serve as mentorship on the page. It helps IAM leaders rethink accountability, governance, and influence. It offers practical guidance on elevating IAM conversations from access requests and audit findings to risk, value, and executive decision-making. And it frames IAM leadership not as a career bottleneck, but as an opportunity to demonstrate strategic impact and accelerate professional growth.

While grounded in real-world experience, the book is written for leaders—not engineers. Technical concepts are explained in plain language, industry terms are defined when necessary, and the focus remains on decisions and outcomes rather than implementation detail. This makes the book equally relevant to IAM leaders, CISOs, and security and IT executives who want identity to function as a true business and security enabler.

Brad Kirkpatrick brings more than two decades of experience building, fixing, and leading IAM programs in complex, highly regulated environments. Across industries and organizations, he has seen the same patterns repeat; programs with strong technology foundations but weak leadership models. This book distills those lessons into a clear, actionable framework designed to help leaders move IAM from operational necessity to strategic advantage.

Ultimately, The 7 Pillars of IAM Success is a leadership manifesto for an identity-driven world. It is written for those who believe IAM should do more—because today, it must.