Over the past two decades, 1Password has earned the trust of millions of people, more than one million developers, and over 180,000 businesses by helping them secure one of the most fundamental elements of digital life: identity.

Today, I’m thrilled to share that 1Password has acquired Apono, and I want to explain why this matters so much to us.

Identity is changing.

For years, the model was straightforward. Humans logged in, systems responded. Credentials verified who you were, and access controls determined what you could reach.

That world is changing quickly.

Software is now acting on our behalf. Machine identities far outnumber human identities. AI agents are beginning to retrieve data, execute workflows, provision resources, and make decisions across enterprise environments. The number of actors inside organizations is growing fast, and the systems governing identity and access were not built for this new reality.

This is what we hear from customers every day. Businesses of all sizes and their security teams are struggling to get the full leverage of their AI investments while managing the risks brought about by non-deterministic agents accessing critical systems. Organizations want to move faster with AI, but they need confidence that every identity, whether it belongs to a person, a machine, or an agent, is continuously verified and governed consistently. They need to know not only who is requesting access, but what that identity should be allowed to do, under what conditions, and for how long.

That challenge is exactly where Apono fits.

1Password has long been the vault that enterprises and their users relied upon to keep their secrets safe. With Apono, we become the access layer.

For 1Password Unified Access, this is an important step forward. We already help organizations secure credentials, manage access to SaaS applications, strengthen device trust, and broker credentials at the moment they are needed. Apono's just-in-time privileged access governance completes the picture.

What impressed us about Apono was not only the technology. It was the clarity of the team’s thinking and the people behind it.

The Apono team recognized early that standing access is increasingly incompatible with modern infrastructure. Cloud environments change continuously. Workflows happen in real time. Access can no longer be provisioned broadly and left in place indefinitely.

Apono built its platform around Zero Standing Privilege by default. Access is granted when it is needed, scoped to the task at hand, and automatically revoked when the work is complete. Every grant carries a clear audit trail. The result is stronger security, greater accountability, and less operational burden for teams that need to move quickly without sacrificing control.

Just as important, Apono understood that the future of access extends beyond humans. The same governance principles that apply to employees and contractors will increasingly need to apply to machine workloads and AI agents as they become active participants in enterprise systems. That is a challenge we are building toward together.

At the same time, we are also introducing 1Password Credential Broker, now in private beta.

Credential Broker keeps credentials protected inside 1Password’s vault and releases only an approved credential, token, or federated access to a verified requester at the moment it is needed. That helps prevent long-lived secrets from spreading across apps, repositories, and pipelines.

Apono and Credential Broker solve two connected parts of the same problem. Credential Broker protects where credentials live and how they reach a trusted identity. Apono governs what an identity is permitted to do once access is granted, and for how long.

Together, they create a strong foundation for trusted access. One protects the credential. The other governs the action. Both are essential in a world where people, machines, and AI agents increasingly work side by side.

I also want to say a word about the Apono team.

We have spent a lot of time with Rom Carmel, Ofir Stein, and their team over the past several months. Beyond the strong character, thoughtfulness, and technical expertise, we discovered significant alignment in our vision and values. The more we talked and worked together, the clearer it became that we share a belief about where identity security needs to go. Security should create confidence, not friction. Access should be earned, scoped, and accountable. And as AI becomes part of how work gets done, people need to stay in control.

The Apono team brings deep expertise in privileged access, a strong customer focus, and a builder mindset that will make 1Password meaningfully better. I am thrilled to welcome Rom, Ofir, and the entire Apono team to 1Password.

The next era of identity security will not be defined only by who has access.

It will be defined by how access is granted, governed, and trusted.

That is the future our customers need, and we are excited to build it with the Apono team.