A runtime gateway is still a hop. B5 enforces inside the application, not in front of it.
Ping’s Identity for AI — Agent IAM Core, Agent Gateway, Agent Detection — puts a runtime enforcement gateway between agents and services, with OBO token-exchange and MCP support. Ping’s own line is “the system that enforces decisions at runtime becomes the system of control.” We agree — which is why enforcement belongs at the call site, not at a gateway your traffic must route through.
Framing: Use Ping’s gateway to broker and detect. Use B5 to enforce the scope at the method, with no gateway to operate.Ping has the crispest agentic vocabulary in Tier 1 — explicit delegation, not impersonation.
Ping’s explicit-delegation-not-impersonation framing and its OBO/token-exchange model are exactly right, and B5 speaks the same language: an agent should derive scoped, time-bound authority from a provable human, never wear a shared service account. The divergence is locus. Ping enforces at a gateway between agents and services; B5 enforces in-process, at the method the agent actually calls — the true last point of control.
Borrow this, don’t fight it
- Explicit-delegation-not-impersonation framing for agent authority
- OBO / OAuth token-exchange and MCP support built into the agent path
- A runtime enforcement gateway with PingOne Protect detection
- Mature IdP, federation, and workforce/customer breadth
The gateway is the control point — until the call runs past it
- The Agent Gateway is a call-out hop in front of services; the action still executes in your code behind it
- A gateway is infrastructure to operate, scale, and secure — and a new live attack surface
- Enforcement at the gateway can’t see the specific method, record, or value the agent ultimately touches
- B5 carries the OBO scope into the [Permission] check at that exact method — no gateway, no hop
Ping decides. B5 enforces — at the line of code.
| Ping Identity | B5 Secure | |
|---|---|---|
| Locus of enforcement | Runtime gateway between agents and services | In-process, at the call site |
| New live attack surface | Yes — operated gateway | No added service or endpoint |
| Authorization data leaves your boundary | Traffic routes through the gateway | No — evaluated in-process |
| New sub-processor for the customer | Yes | No |
| .NET integration | SDK / gateway, generic | Idiomatic [Permission] attributes & middleware |
| Agent identity model | First-class (gateway-brokered) | First-class + in-process enforcement today; agent OBO + ephemeral scope is a Q4 2026 roadmap extension |
| Best role in your architecture | Broker & detect agent traffic | Enforce the decision where it executes |
Capability status. In-process [Permission] enforcement Generally Available Agent OBO delegation, ephemeral SPIFFE-compatible agent identity and CAEP/SSF signal ingestion are Q4 2026 roadmap extensions Preview.
The questions a buyer actually asks
We’re standing up Ping’s Agent Gateway.
Then you already accept Ping’s premise: whoever enforces at runtime is the system of control. A gateway enforces in front of the service; B5 enforces inside it, at the method — the last point before the action commits. The two compose: broker at the gateway, enforce at the call site.
Ping does OBO too — what does B5 add?
Ping issues the delegated token; B5 makes it binding where it matters. The inherited scope flows into the [Permission] evaluation at the method, so an agent cannot invoke a call outside its grant even if it reaches the service. Token issuance and call-site enforcement are different jobs.
Why avoid a gateway at all?
For .NET-centric or air-gapped shops, a gateway is a component to deploy, scale, and defend on the hot path. A library has no endpoint to reach and adds no network hop. Less surface, faster procurement, lower latency.
Complementary, not competitive.
Ping brokers and detects; B5 enforces at the method.
Let Ping’s Agent Gateway broker delegation and feed detection signals. Let B5 enforce the delegated scope in-process inside your .NET services — with planned ingestion of Ping’s CAEP/SSF risk events as policy inputs and failing closed on any out-of-scope call. The system that enforces at runtime is the system of control; in your code, that system is B5.
Enforce where the action executes — not one hop in front of it.
Bring your architecture to a B5 architect. We’ll show you exactly where Ping ends and where in-process enforcement begins — and the Trust Center a library, not a platform, gets to publish.
See enforcement at the record. Live.
Thirty minutes with a B5 engineer: your stack, the B1–B5 pipeline, and a data-element authorization decision you can watch happen — for humans, services, and AI agents alike.