Google Cloud Just Made Agent Identity a First-Class Principal Type. Here's Why That Changes Everything. Yesterday at Google Cloud Next, something happened that most security teams will miss until it's too late: Google Cloud made AI agent identity a first-class principal type in its IAM system. Not a service account. Not a user proxy. A dedicated, cryptographically protected identity built on the SPIFFE standard — purpose-built for autonomous agents that interact with sensitive data at machine speed. This is the biggest signal yet that the "agent identity gap" isn't theoretical. It's here. What Google Actually Shipped Google's new Agent Identity framework includes: First-class principal type : Agents get their own identity class, distinct from human users or generic service accounts. This means agent-specific authorization rules, governance policies, and audit trails. SPIFFE-based cryptographic identity : Built on the open Secure Production Identity Framework for Everyone standard.…