Report: 1 in 2 Employees Have Excessive Privileged Access—CloudEagle.ai Survey Warns of Escalating Insider Risk due to AI and SaaS Sprawl

PALO ALTO, Calif., June 25, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- A new report from CloudEagle.ai, the AI-powered SaaS management and governance platform, reveals that 60% of enterprise SaaS and AI applications now operate outside IT's visibility. This surge in “invisible IT” is fueling a crisis in identity governance, leading to increased breaches, audit failures, and compliance risk across enterprises.

A survey of 1,000 enterprise CIOs and CISOs reveals a critical shift: most breaches originate internally, driven by excessive permissions, stale accounts, and fragmented identity governance. Manual onboarding, infrequent access reviews, and siloed deprovisioning only worsen the risk. 70% of CIOs flagged unsanctioned AI tools as a top data concern, and 48% of former employees still have app access months after leaving.

“Traditional IAM tools can’t keep up with today’s SaaS and AI-driven environments because not all apps are managed by IT, and not everything sits behind a centralized IAM system. IGA is at a tipping point, and enterprises must shift to AI-driven access management to stay secure and compliant,” says Nidhi Jain, CEO and Founder, CloudEagle.ai.

Key findings from the report show the scale of access sprawl:

1 in 2 employees have excessive privileges
Only 15% have implemented Just-In-Time (JIT) access across departments
50% admit privilege creep is common, yet only 5% enforce least-privilege policies

The report urges enterprises to be proactive and embrace AI-powered identity governance. For years, IT teams were underfunded and lacked executive visibility to drive meaningful change. That’s now shifting, as identity governance is increasingly recognized as a core security function, these teams are gaining the budget, authority, and urgency traditionally reserved for security operations, enabling them to govern and secure the rise of AI and SaaS.

Implement context-aware, zero-trust access controls
Hire a Chief Identity Officer (CIDO) to unify governance across all teams
Auto-provision/deprovision apps based on real-time usage
Enforce JIT access for high-risk roles to eliminate standing privileges
Run continuous, behavioral AI-based access reviews

Link to the report - https://www.cloudeagle.ai/iga-report

About CloudEagle.ai

CloudEagle.ai is a leading AI-powered SaaS governance platform helping IT & security teams manage, govern, and renew all SaaS apps from one place. With 500+ direct integrations, CloudEagle provides visibility, automates onboarding/offboarding, access reviews, license optimization, and renewals while strengthening compliance for SOX, GDPR, ISO 27001, and more.

Media Contact:
CloudEagle.ai Team
pr@cloudeagle.ai

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