Podcast Summary: The Agile Brand with Greg Kihlström® – Episode #780

Title: Third-party partner experience and security with Haider Iqbal, Thales
Date: December 5, 2025
Guest: Haider Iqbal, Director Identity and Access Management at Thales
Host: Greg Kihlström

Episode Overview

This episode explores the critical—yet often neglected—topic of third-party partner experience and digital security. With Haider Iqbal of Thales, Greg Kihlström delves into the challenges brands face in providing seamless, secure digital experiences to their external partners, such as agencies, vendors, and suppliers. They examine the hidden costs of friction during onboarding, data privacy, password management woes, and how the rise of AI and agent-based systems amplifies these challenges. The conversation also features practical solutions for improving digital trust, access management, and futureproofing security strategies for increasingly complex partner ecosystems.

Main Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Imperative of Digital Trust

Timestamp: [02:43 – 05:14]

• Brands must prioritize trust with extended enterprises—partners, suppliers, and distributors are an extension of the overall brand experience.
  • “Your partners and your suppliers, they actually become an extension of your brand that way as well.” — Haider Iqbal [04:42]
• Friction at the onboarding or access stage damages perception before work even begins, creating a breakdown of trust.
• The idea of "total experience" (Gartner): Exceptional user experience should encompass not just consumers and employees, but all stakeholders in the value chain.

2. Shared Risk & Responsibility in Data Security

Timestamp: [05:14 – 08:24]

• Only 56% of users trust that a host will disclose a breach promptly—a critical gap when working across interconnected marketing and tech stacks.
• Shared responsibility for data privacy among brands and partners is vital. Companies must implement "privacy by design" principles to ensure confidence in data handling.
  • “If there's one message…think about privacy by design, because that is absolutely essential to the overall user experience.” — Haider Iqbal [07:13]

3. The Cost and Complexity of Access Friction

Timestamp: [08:24 – 09:23]

• 96% of users face login issues; inconsistent access processes and frequent password resets are widespread headaches for both internal teams and partners.
• "Password fatigue" impacts productivity and perception, especially as partners often manage several logins across multiple organizations.

4. Practical Solutions: Moving Towards Passwordless Access

Timestamp: [09:23 – 12:35]

• Half of users accessing corporate data are external (partners, suppliers), yet organizations often overlook this constituency when improving user experience.
  • “If you're building a good user experience of getting rid of passwords for your workforce and for your consumers, why not do it for your partners and suppliers as well?” — Haider Iqbal [11:59]
• Introduction to the FIDO Alliance and “passkeys”—innovations aimed at eliminating passwords entirely for all stakeholders.
• Emphasis on taking a holistic approach to identity, removing silos between employee, consumer, and partner access.

5. Securing Access Lifecycle: The Human Factor

Timestamp: [12:35 – 16:24]

• Over half of users retain access long after it’s needed, presenting an ongoing security risk (“zombie” accounts).
• Solution: Delegate access administration to partner organizations, allowing them to manage their own users’ access in a user-friendly way.
  • Example: “If you, Greg, are my supplier…you know how many people in your organizations are interacting with me…So give [partners] user friendly tools… ‘Jane just left the organization, so I can revoke her access.’” — Haider Iqbal [15:40]

6. Making the ROI Case for Secure, Frictionless Partner Experience

Timestamp: [18:45 – 22:16]

• The tangible impact of friction: Users waste 48 minutes/month average on login challenges.
• Lost productivity can scale massively with many suppliers (e.g., Thales has ~12,000 suppliers, each with multiple users).
• Automation and seamless, invisible authentication processes drive both productivity and brand trust.
• Notable: “The best thing about technology has to be that it is so invisible that you don't even actually feel it working for you in the background.” — Haider Iqbal [20:34]

7. The Road to Ubiquitous Passwordless Tech

Timestamp: [22:16 – 24:42]

• While passwordless technologies (like passkeys and biometrics) exist and are becoming more common, adoption is still inconsistent and will continue to evolve over months and years.
• For certain use cases (e.g., manufacturing floor workers), futuristic solutions like brain-computer interfaces are in early exploration! Still, robust alternatives (tokens, smart cards) exist now for parties uncomfortable with biometrics or mobile-based access.
  • “Technology is no longer the barrier, so that's really not the excuse here anymore.” — Haider Iqbal [24:35]

8. The AI Challenge: Agentic Identities and Future Complexity

Timestamp: [24:42 – 27:27]

• The proliferation of AI and agent-to-agent communication exponentially amplifies identity and access risks.
  • “It gets multiplied, I don't know, tenfold, 100 fold…Machine identities or agentic identities you would have to manage in the world of tomorrow.” — Haider Iqbal [25:40]
• Maintaining visibility and control over not just human users, but also AI/machine agents, is the next frontier of identity and access management.

9. Looking Ahead: Security in an AI-Driven B2B World

Timestamp: [27:27 – 28:36]

• Within a year, agentic AI in B2B will be a dominant topic; agents will negotiate, interact, and form contracts autonomously on behalf of brands.
• Security and access complexity will accordingly skyrocket—a “mind blowing” opportunity and challenge for digital leaders.

10. Staying Agile in Tech & Identity Management

Timestamp: [28:36 – 29:41]

• Agility, especially for tech marketers, is about learning, iterating, and failing fast, as both markets and technologies change daily.
  • “Agility for me, especially in the tech world, is being very open in terms of being able to try and fail fast. Having that mindset is absolutely crucial.” — Haider Iqbal [29:11]

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “Your partners and your suppliers, they actually become an extension of your brand.” – Haider Iqbal, [04:42]
• “If there's one message…think about privacy by design, because that is absolutely essential to the overall user experience.” – Haider Iqbal, [07:13]
• “If you're building a good user experience of getting rid of passwords for your workforce and for your consumers, why not do it for your partners and suppliers as well?” – Haider Iqbal, [11:59]
• “The best thing about technology has to be that it is so invisible that you don't even actually feel it working for you in the background.” – Haider Iqbal, [20:34]
• Regarding future AI challenges: “It gets multiplied, I don't know, tenfold, 100 fold…Machine identities or agentic identities you would have to manage in the world of tomorrow.” – Haider Iqbal, [25:40]
• “Agility…is being very open in terms of being able to try and fail fast. Having that mindset is absolutely crucial.” – Haider Iqbal, [29:11]

Key Takeaways

• Digital trust starts with seamless, secure access—even (especially) for external partners who function as a brand's extension.
• Prioritize privacy by design for all stakeholders, not solely employees or consumers.
• A passwordless, unified identity approach can massively reduce friction and risk, but only if applied holistically to the extended enterprise.
• Proactively manage and automate third-party access, including timely revocation. Delegate access control to partners when possible.
• The rise of AI and agent-to-agent interaction will exponentially increase access management complexity. Brands must start preparing now.

Important Timestamps

• [02:43] — The imperative of digital trust with third parties
• [05:14] — Shared risk, privacy by design, and regulatory complexity
• [09:23] — The burden of login friction and moving toward passwordless
• [12:35] — Addressing lingering access after partnership ends; human/process solutions
• [18:45] — Calculating ROI for frictionless, secure digital experiences
• [22:41] — Future and present of passwordless authentication
• [24:42] — AI, agent-based access, and next quantum leap in identity management
• [27:27] — Agentic AI in B2B: looking one year ahead
• [28:36] — The role of agility in adapting to tech change

Conclusion

This episode offers a comprehensive look at the evolving landscape of partner experience and digital security. Haider Iqbal emphasizes the urgency for brands to treat third-party partners as integral to their own digital trust and security postures, and to leverage modern passwordless technologies and delegated access management. As AI reshapes the B2B landscape, brands must intensify their focus on visibility, automation, and agility to remain secure and competitive.

For more information on Thales and Haider Iqbal, check the show notes or connect with them directly on LinkedIn.