From SaaS Limits to Developer Control: Brian Bell on the Future of Identity

What if your identity solution actually worked the way your developers do — fast, flexible, and fully in your control?

In this conversation, Brian Bell, CEO of FusionAuth, unpacks why a developer-first approach to CIAM is becoming essential. He shares what makes traditional SaaS models too rigid for modern teams, how hybrid deployments unlock real flexibility, and why identity is at the center of today’s AI-powered, multi-platform world.

Congrats on taking the reins as CEO of FusionAuth, Brian. Let's start with the obvious – why FusionAuth and why now?

Thank you! This is a pivotal moment for customer identity. As companies race to deliver secure, differentiated digital experiences across web, mobile, and AI-powered platforms, the demand for flexible, developer-centric CIAM solutions is exploding. Identity has become a foundational layer – not just for security, but for enabling interaction between humans, machines, and AI.

What drew me to FusionAuth is its unique position in this fast-moving space. I’ve spent much of the last two decades in identity security, and I’ve seen the limitations of traditional, multi-tenant SaaS approaches. FusionAuth's developer-first mindset and flexible deployment model solve real, urgent problems for modern application teams. The opportunity ahead is huge, and I believe we’re just getting started.

As someone who's led category-defining GTM at Ping Identity and Zuora, how are you thinking about FusionAuth's brand story in a crowded identity space?

The identity space is certainly more crowded than it was 5 years ago, but FusionAuth’s story is fundamentally different. While everyone else is pushing a one-size-fits-all, multi-tenant SaaS model with shared infrastructure, FusionAuth is the only dev-first, enterprise-grade CIAM platform offering true hybrid deployment flexibility. That matters because more modern technical teams operate across an increasingly complex set of environments – and we meet them where they are.

Our brand story isn't about being just another identity provider – it's about empowering developers and enterprises with the freedom to build and deploy how they want, where they want – without sacrificing security, performance, or control. FusionAuth gives customers ownership over their infrastructure, data, and user experience, all while delivering the robust capabilities required at enterprise scale.

In a market full of rigid solutions, FusionAuth stands out by giving teams what they value most: security, flexibility, control, and developer autonomy.

FusionAuth is known for its developer-first credibility. How do you plan to strengthen that foundation while creating room for continued innovation?

Developer-first isn't just a marketing position for us – it's in our DNA. FusionAuth has always focused on giving developers the tools they need to build secure, scalable identity into their apps without the headaches.

My approach is to double down on what's working: our downloadable model, robust APIs, and the deployment flexibility that developers actually want. We’re not here to force a model on our users – we’re here to empower them to build on their terms.

We’re also continuing to raise the bar on developer experience—improving our docs, SDKs, and admin UI, and making it even easier to get into production. And just as important, we’re committed to our community: open forums, GitHub feedback loops, and listening closely to the devs building real-world apps with FusionAuth. This kind of direct engagement keeps us grounded in what matters most.

At the same time, we're investing in what’s next. The rise of AI-powered platforms is reshaping how identity is incorporated into the development cycle and how it’s being used. As interactions increasingly space humans, machines, and AI agents, we see an exciting opportunity to lead the way in developer-first authentication in this new landscape. That means building tools to support identity delegation, agent-based auth, and secure trust models across hybrid ecosystems.

The key is ensuring that every innovation we bring to market upholds our core principle: if it adds friction or takes away developer control, it's not FusionAuth. Our mission is to stay ahead of the curve – without ever losing sight of the developer experience that sets us apart.

FusionAuth offers a downloadable, hybrid deployment model, a sharp contrast to many SaaS-only, multi-tenant CIAM solutions. What makes this architecture more relevant than ever today?

This architecture is more relevant than ever for three big reasons.

First, global data residency and privacy regulations are only getting more complex. Our customers operate in highly regulated industries and regions where data control isn’t just a preference – it’s a mandate. FusionAuth’s hybrid model gives them full control over where their data lives and how it’s handled. With FusionAuth, you own your data in today’s SaaS-first world. This is rare.

Second, the rise of AI and machine learning is driving a shift toward more demanding and unpredictable infrastructure needs. These workloads can’t afford to be throttled by the constraints of shared, multi-tenant platforms. Our approach gives customers the dedicated performance, scale, and security they need to run their stack however they want across dev, testing, and production.

Finally, modern developer teams need the ability to test, iterate, and deploy in environments that mirror production. That’s simply not possible in a shared SaaS model with shared infrastructure and rigid boundaries. With FusionAuth, developers can run locally, in a private cloud, or wherever their app architecture demands – no compromises.

This level of flexibility is rare in CIAM and exactly why FusionAuth continues to stand out.

How does FusionAuth ensure usability and visibility for non-technical stakeholders, while staying true to its developer-first roots?

This is about building bridges, not walls. While developers are our primary users, we understand that identity decisions involve security teams, compliance officers, and business stakeholders. That’s why we're investing in intuitive dashboards, reporting, and administrative tools that give non-technical stakeholders the visibility and governance they need – without compromising the developer experience.

The key is keeping those workflows and experiences connected but distinct. Developers get the APIs, SDKs, and development flexibility they rely on, while non-technical stakeholders get the governance and visibility they require.

We’re not dumbing things down – we’re layering on insight, context, and control where it matters. That way, security and business leaders can participate meaningfully in identity strategy without getting in the developer’s way. It’s a win-win that supports better collaboration and smarter decisions across the organization.

As organizations scale across regions, compliance requirements, or product lines, how does FusionAuth adapt without forcing re-architecture?

This is where our hybrid deployment model really shines. Because customers can deploy FusionAuth wherever they need it – whether that's on-premises, in specific cloud regions, or across multiple environments – scaling doesn't require rethinking your entire architecture.

We're architected to support multi-region, multi-tenant, and multi-product use cases from the start. Whether it’s navigating different compliance requirements or supporting new product lines, FusionAuth allows organizations to grow organically within a single, cohesive platform – without painful rewrites, migrations, or vendor lock-ins that plague traditional SaaS solutions.

It’s scale on your terms, not ours – and that’s a huge differentiator in today’s global, AI-first, fast-moving environment.

What does the next chapter of authentication and user management look like? Where is FusionAuth placing its boldest bets?

The next chapter of authentication is about meeting new complexity with smarter, more flexible solutions. At FusionAuth, we’re placing bold bets in three key areas.

First, security. We’re continuing to build on our secure-by-default architecture to help customers meet rising threats without adding friction. This includes looking at things like more integrations with modern security tooling, more granular access controls, and expanded options for passwordless and step-up authentication.

Second, serving the midmarket. While many CIAM vendors chase only the largest enterprises, we’re investing in the often-overlooked midmarket—companies with serious scale and complexity, but without giant security teams or big budgets. This is in addition to supporting enterprise customers who continue to pull us into that segment, because our architecture uniquely solves challenges that even the largest organizations face. FusionAuth gives all of them enterprise-grade power with developer-friendly flexibility.

And third, preparing for the age of AI. As engineering teams increasingly exploit the opportunity with AI—whether through vibe coding, building AI agents, or machine-to-machine interfaces—the definition of identity is changing. We’re building for a world where applications need to authenticate not just people, but AI entities acting on their behalf. That means new standards, new trust models, and new ways to manage delegation and authorization.

The future of auth isn’t about doing the same things slightly better—it’s about redefining what’s possible. And FusionAuth is here to make that future accessible, powerful, and developer-first.