Company Description
Okta, Inc. (NASDAQ: OKTA) is a cloud-native security company focused on identity and access management. Described as “The World’s Identity Company”, Okta states that it secures identity so people and organizations can safely use technology. According to the company, its customer and workforce solutions enable businesses and developers to use identity to drive security, efficiencies, and success while protecting users, employees, and partners.
Okta is based in San Francisco, California and its shares trade on the Nasdaq under the symbol OKTA. The company went public in 2017, as noted in its profile as a cloud-native security firm. Okta positions itself as a leading independent identity partner, emphasizing neutrality in how it integrates with other technologies and platforms.
Business focus and identity platform
Okta’s business centers on identity and access management. Earlier descriptions highlight that the firm focuses on two key stakeholder groups: workforces and customers. Workforce offerings are described as enabling a company’s employees to securely access cloud-based and on-premises resources. Customer offerings allow a client’s own customers to securely access the client’s applications. Across its news disclosures, Okta repeatedly highlights authentication, authorization, and related access capabilities as core to its value proposition.
The company describes its offerings as a modern, neutral identity platform that enables organizations to build, manage, and govern identities, including emerging non-human identities such as AI agents. Okta states that this platform helps secure AI by providing identity-centric controls over how agents and applications connect and interact.
Identity security fabric and AI-focused capabilities
In its announcements, Okta frequently refers to an “identity security fabric”. The firm explains this as an approach that unifies identity across ecosystems to provide visibility, control, and governance for every type of identity. Okta has announced Okta for AI Agents, which it describes as integrating AI agents into this identity security fabric for end-to-end security. According to the company, this includes:
- Discovering AI agents and identifying potential security risks related to service accounts, API keys, and OAuth tokens.
- Establishing and managing AI agent identities in a directory, including risk classification and ownership.
- Enforcing security policies that apply the principle of least privilege for agents.
- Providing audit trails and activity logging for agent actions and decisions.
Okta also highlights Identity Threat Protection with Okta AI, which it describes as monitoring user activity, using behavioral analytics to identify anomalous behavior, and triggering automated remediations to maintain security posture during active sessions.
Access management and industry recognition
Okta is classified in the Software Publishers industry within the Information sector. The company’s news disclosures emphasize its role in access management, including authentication, authorization, single sign-on (SSO), and adaptive access capabilities for web applications and APIs. Okta reports that Gartner has recognized it as a Leader in the Magic Quadrant for Access Management for multiple consecutive years, and that it has also been named a Customers’ Choice in Gartner Peer Insights “Voice of the Customer” for Access Management.
Okta attributes this recognition to what it describes as a cloud-native portfolio that supports product capability, market execution, and customer onboarding through a partner ecosystem. The company states that its solutions combine ease of use, neutrality, customizability, and reliability to secure different identity types with integration across customer ecosystems.
Customer and workforce identity solutions
Across its “About Okta” sections, the company consistently describes two main solution groupings:
- Customer identity solutions – enabling a client’s customers to authenticate and authorize access to the client’s applications.
- Workforce identity solutions – enabling employees and other workforce users to securely access cloud-based and on-premises resources.
Okta states that these solutions are used by businesses and developers to embed identity into applications and workflows. The company also references Auth0 and the Auth0 Platform in its news, describing Auth0 capabilities that help organizations build standards-based AI agents and embed identity-first security into AI-driven applications.
Open standards and Cross App Access (XAA)
Okta emphasizes support for open standards as part of its strategy. In particular, it highlights Cross App Access (XAA), which it describes as an open protocol that extends OAuth to secure agent-driven and app-to-app interactions across an enterprise. According to Okta, XAA:
- Standardizes how AI agents and applications connect securely.
- Shifts control from individual applications to the identity layer.
- Enables centralized, policy-based access management for agents and applications.
- Improves security and auditability by allowing unauthorized requests to be audited or blocked and access to be revoked quickly.
- Aims to reduce user friction by pre-approving certain agent-to-app or app-to-app connections.
Okta notes that XAA is being incorporated into the Okta Platform and will also be supported in Auth0, enabling developers to build applications and AI tools that participate in this protocol.
Verifiable Digital Credentials and fraud prevention
In its announcements, Okta describes plans for an Okta Verifiable Digital Credentials (VDC) platform. The company states that VDCs are intended to enable organizations to issue and verify tamper-proof, reusable identity data such as government IDs, employment records, or certifications. According to Okta, these capabilities aim to reduce AI-powered fraud and friction during onboarding by allowing people to digitally prove identity and eligibility.
Okta explains that VDCs are built on open standards and are designed to support secure, privacy-preserving credentials in an environment where AI agents and digital interactions are increasingly common. The company also references a Digital ID verification feature focused on verifying government-issued IDs, initially mobile driver’s licenses, with plans to expand to additional forms of identification.
Financial profile and capital allocation signals
Okta regularly reports its financial results and outlook through press releases and Form 8-K filings. These disclosures include revenue, subscription revenue, remaining performance obligations, operating income, net income, and cash flow metrics, along with reconciliations between GAAP and non-GAAP measures. The company explains that it uses non-GAAP metrics such as non-GAAP operating income, non-GAAP net income, and free cash flow to provide additional perspective on its operations, while noting the limitations of these measures and encouraging investors to review related GAAP results and reconciliations.
Okta has also announced a share repurchase program authorized to purchase up to a specified amount of its Class A common stock. The company states that this program reflects confidence in its business and long-term opportunities, and that repurchases may be conducted in the open market, in privately negotiated transactions, or otherwise, funded by existing cash balances and cash flow from operations. Okta notes that such repurchases will be structured in accordance with applicable federal securities laws and may be facilitated through Rule 10b5-1 plans.
Corporate governance and stockholder matters
Okta’s SEC filings describe ongoing corporate governance and stockholder matters. For example, the company has reported the outcomes of annual meetings of stockholders, including the election of directors, ratification of its independent registered public accounting firm, advisory votes on executive compensation, and the preferred frequency of future advisory votes on compensation.
In an 8-K filing, Okta also disclosed a stipulation and agreement of settlement intended to resolve multiple stockholder derivative actions and related stockholder demands, collectively referred to as the “Derivative Matters.” The company reported that a court granted preliminary approval of the proposed settlement and scheduled a final settlement approval hearing, and it attached the stipulation and a notice of pendency and proposed settlement as exhibits to that filing.
Events, ecosystem, and community engagement
Okta hosts and participates in events that focus on identity security, AI, and application development. The company’s annual Oktane event is described as a venue where it announces new platform capabilities, showcases its identity security fabric vision, and engages with customers, developers, and partners. Okta also organizes initiatives such as the Okta Startup Challenge, which highlights early-stage startups building identity-enabled workflows and applications.
Okta indicates that it uses its investor relations site and various company blogs, including a Security Blog and developer blogs, as channels for disclosing material information, announcing investor conferences, and discussing product and security topics. The company explicitly advises investors to monitor these channels for updates.
Regulatory disclosures and communications
Through its Form 8-K filings, Okta reports material events such as quarterly financial results, director departures, stockholder meeting outcomes, and litigation developments. The company often clarifies that certain information furnished in 8-K filings, including attached press releases, is not deemed “filed” for purposes of specific sections of the Securities Exchange Act unless expressly incorporated by reference in other filings.
Okta’s disclosures also detail its approach to non-GAAP financial measures, including which expenses are excluded, why management considers these adjustments outside core operating results, and how a fixed long-term projected tax rate is applied for non-GAAP tax calculations. The company notes that it periodically reassesses the components of its non-GAAP adjustments and the projected tax rate based on changes in tax law, geographic earnings mix, and acquisitions.
How investors use information about Okta
Investors analyzing Okta often look at its identity and access management focus, its positioning as an independent identity partner, and its emphasis on AI-related identity security capabilities. The company’s recurring “About Okta” statements, financial press releases, and SEC filings provide consistent information on its business focus, solution categories, and approach to reporting financial performance.