Zero Trust is often described as a target architecture, but in large enterprises it must be realized through concrete steps that deliver security improvements today while enabling future trust models. At BASF, identity is used as the central control plane to drive this transformation.
In this session, Cyber Security Enterprise Architect Keno Torfs shares BASF’s journey from a traditional, binary IAM model toward a risk‑based Identity and Access Management (IAM) architecture built on Microsoft Entra ID. By introducing Authentication Assurance Levels (AAL) and linking application risk to enforceable authentication strength, BASF established a pragmatic foundation where security scales with risk while usability is preserved for low‑risk access.
Building on this foundation, the presentation looks beyond authentication to the next stages of BASF’s Risk based IAM roadmap. It explores how passwordless authentication, identity assurance, and emerging concepts such as decentralized identities and verifiable credentials can further reduce implicit trust, simplify access decisions, and enable new trust relationships across enterprise and ecosystem boundaries.
Attendees will gain insight into how a global industrial enterprise turns Zero Trust from theory into an evolving, scalable identity platform, connecting delivered results with a clear vision for what comes next.
