# What is Cakewalk

### :fire: **The Problems Teams Face**

Modern scale-ups do not just run on SaaS apps and cloud platforms anymore. AI apps and agents are now everywhere. Without a governance layer, IT and Security teams are left exposed:

* **Shadow IT and Shadow AI**: Employees spin up apps or AI tools without approval, multiplying risk and compliance headaches.
* **Onboarding friction**: New hires wait days for the right apps because access has to be granted manually.
* **Mover complexity**: Role changes and team transfers leave users with too much access or too little, often discovered only during audits.
* **Offboarding gaps**: Departing employees keep lingering access to apps, exposing sensitive data.
* **Audit fatigue**: Security and compliance teams spend weeks chasing spreadsheets to prove who has access to what.
* **Admin overload**: IT admins waste hours provisioning, deprovisioning and fielding repetitive requests.
* **End-user resistance**: Employees struggle with poor UX in order to get timely access and contribute to healthy IGA practices.

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### :cupcake: **How Cakewalk Solves It**

Cakewalk is the AI powered control plane for Access Management that makes employees part of the solution, and is built around three core pillars:

#### 1. Consolidate

Bring all access data, identities and systems into one source of truth.

* **App and AI Discovery:** Capture all apps, tools and identities (via browser extension, Google Workspace, IdP, etc.) and bring them into your governance plane.
* **Unified Directory:** merge HR, IdP and app accounts so every person (or system) maps to a single identity.
* **Smart Tables & Dashboards:** Instantly see who has access to what, across your environment, your data shown how you want it.

:white\_check\_mark: **Outcome:** No more silos. You always know the full access landscape.

#### 2. Automate

Turn access workflows into self-running processes with guardrails.

* **JML Automation:** “Joiner / Mover / Leaver” flows automatically grant, adjust or revoke access based on role, attribute or lifecycle changes.
* **Policies & Approval Workflows:** Fully customizable and enforceable approval workflows that ensures consistency and compliance.
* **Interoperability through Integrations:** Your HRIS, IdP, SaaS tools and Slack all connect to Cakewalk so changes ripple in real time.
* **Auto Provisioning by Agent Cake:** Enable real-time access for users with Cakewalk's agentic provisioning automation, minimizing repetitive IT tasks.

:white\_check\_mark: **Outcome:** Less manual work, fewer mistakes, faster access changes.

#### 3. Guide

Give every user the visibility and context to make smart access decisions.

* **Self-Serve Access in Slack:** Employees request access where they already live (Slack) while getting routing, contextual info and transparency.
* **Contextual Approvals and Reviews**: Detailed insights into the identity, purpose, application and associated AI risks at each decision stage.
* **Access Visibility**: Employees always see which apps and AI tools they can use, reducing IT tickets.
* **Insights and Governance Actions**: Highlight excessive access, dormant accounts and risky AI usage for remediation.

:white\_check\_mark: **Outcome:** Decisions are informed, fast and traceable while users aren’t blocked waiting on IT.

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### :bulb: **Why you need Cakewalk**

* **Save time**: IT & Security teams can cut up to **80% of manual effort** in access management.
* **Close security gaps**: Orphaned accounts, over-permissioned users and unknown AI use is discovered and addressed automatically.
* **Stay audit-ready**: Generate clean reports showing who has access to what, how it was approved and when it was last reviewed.
* **Enable scale**: Onboard faster, manage complex org structures with confidence.
* **Empower teams**: Give employees autonomy to request tools they need while ensuring managers and app owners remain in control.