As Venn Factory wraps up its very first year and gears up for exciting things in 2025, I thought it would be a great time to share some of what we’ve been up to in the last few months.

The newly launched Death and the Digital Estate Community Group is dedicated to addressing one of the most sensitive topics in our increasingly digitized world. I was honored to be invited to co-chair the group along with Dean Saxe and Mike Kiser.

Among the compelling stories shared at the inaugural DADE meeting: an IAM practitioner in Japan recounted how a friend managed a family member's digital estate after their passing. We hope to find the patterns in such real-world experiences to help the industry develop better solutions.

It’s been a busy season for sharing my perspectives in public venues. Some highlights:

• Fabian Eberle of Keyless Technologies welcomed me, along with Maxine Most and Sarah Clark, to a webinar panel to discuss evolving biometrics requirements for identity verification, authentication, and fraud detection. I focused on how to respect the unique role of biometrics as an authentication factor, and best practices for orchestrating user journeys that include biometrics.

• I joined the warm and welcoming Atlanta security community to deliver an ATL Identity Day keynote at the behest of CyberRisk Partners’ Ed Pascua. My new analysis of IAM’s higher purpose through a product management lens – illustrated with Venn diagrams! – seemed to resonate with both the enterprise leaders and technology vendors present.

• At the Gartner IAM Summit, I moderated a panel on simplifying authorization complexity, exploring a customer case study for improving identity security with PlainID’s Gal Helemski and Cisco’s Dileep Moturi. We discussed the poor visibility, controls, and enforcement that plague enterprises, and explored how Cisco battled the risks of fines, reduced customer acquisition and retention, and revenue loss through centralization of authorization policies.

During Gartner week, I was pleased to host a very Texan BBQ party for the authorization community. Venn Factory co-sponsored this shindig with Strata Identity. I loved having people come together to geek out in person.

(To commemorate the occasion, we launched a limited-edition Venn Factory sticker. There are a few left – let us know if you want us to send you one!)

Breaking some news here: My recent Consent Is Dead blog series has now been fashioned into an extended-form white paper with some fresh evidence, along with actionable advice for identity pros about reviving user-powered permissions. We’ve also prepared a handy infographic. Download the paper from the website — or just get in touch.

Finally, I’m pleased to have added a second “Factory worker” – Jade Young, my stalwart BizDev Manager. She helps keep me sane and has wizard-level powers over content and communications. Thank you, Jade, and a formal welcome to the Factory!

Best wishes to all for a happy, healthy, and prosperous 2025.