Identity at the Center #374 - Sponsor Spotlight - SGNL
Sep 17, 2025
In this conversation, Erik Gustavson, the co-founder and CPO of SGNL, shares his journey from fantasy sports to pioneering identity solutions after a stint at Google. He discusses the significance of continuous identity and the challenges of authorization at scale. Erik highlights how SGNL integrates with existing security tools and addresses real-world use cases like CI/CD protection. The chat concludes on a light note, with Erik revealing his culinary passions and the perfect meal for his hosts.
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From Fantasy Sports To Google Identity
- Erik Gustavson and Scott built an identity platform after leaving a fantasy sports company and selling their first startup to Google.
- Their experience running single sign-on and directory sync at Google informed their later work on continuous identity.
Identity Decisions Must Be Real Time
- Continuous identity means ingesting and evaluating signals in real time to decide what a user can do right now.
- Time and changing context are central: policies must answer "can I do this right now?" not just "can I do this?".
Design Policy Before Chasing Perfect Data
- Start policy design by writing down the exact business policy you need to enforce before chasing perfect data.
- Use multiple imperfect data sources and stitch them together rather than waiting for pristine single-source data.