Jane Edwards 
Jordan Burris, head of public sector at digital identity company Socure, said 2026 will serve as a wake-up call for U.S. government leaders as denied services, mounting fraud and rapid technology advancements expose weaknesses in the country’s digital identity systems.
Questions around security, trust and digital systems continue to shape how government and industry approach modernization efforts. These broader discussions often surface at forums such as the Potomac Officers Club’s 2026 Digital Transformation Summit. Book a seat at this April 22 event and engage with peers on the future of digital government.
In a commentary published Friday on SC Media, Burris discussed six trends he said will define the U.S. digital identity landscape in 2026.
How Will AI-Driven Impersonation Reshape Identity Fraud?
Among the trends outlined, Burris said artificial intelligence-driven impersonation “will become the dominant fraud vector” in 2026.
According to Burris, bad actors will be able to impersonate individuals, employees, government officials and digital systems, enabling even low-skilled actors to execute high-impact attacks. He said this creates an asymmetrical environment in which attackers can move faster than agencies constrained by policy and processes.
He also pointed to the rise of agentic AI systems.
“In 2026, agentic systems will run ahead of governance, making impersonation easier and trust harder to establish,” he wrote.
What Role Will Quantum Computing Play in Resetting Trust?
Burris said quantum computing will drive renewed urgency around digital identity in 2026. He noted that early signals of quantum capability will raise concerns that are expected to push identity security into broader public discussions.
“Governments will talk openly, perhaps for the first time, about how to reset trust in a post-quantum world,” he added.
What Additional Trends Does Burris Say Will Shape the Digital Identity Landscape?
The Socure executive identified four additional trends shaping the digital identity landscape in 2026, starting with growing governance challenges at the federal level. He said competing mandates, fragmented ownership and misaligned priorities across agencies will further splinter identity systems, making them harder to manage and easier to exploit.
He also pointed to increasing competition among governments, financial institutions and tech companies to control digital identity wallets. Burris said the race to become the “identity wallet-of-record” will shift market power while increasing complexity for users, potentially widening digital literacy gaps and inequality.
According to Burris, digital identity is emerging as a “geopolitical fault line.” He noted that he expects more countries to reject foreign digital identities, increasing the risk of foreign interference through identity manipulation. He also warned that a major tech platform could set off the first mass global trust crisis in the AI era, triggering a domino effect that undermines public confidence.
In a recent article published on GovTech, Socure said state and local governments are facing rising identity fraud as criminal groups adopt agentic AI to automate attacks and overwhelm legacy verification systems. Burris noted that fraud rings and nation-state actors worldwide are finding ways to intercept and disrupt government benefit programs.
