CISO Tribune

Vendor comparison · 2 companies

C1.ai vs HashiCorp

C1.ai gives agents policy-controlled access to models, tools, and credentials at runtime. HashiCorp sells The Infrastructure Cloud, an integrated platform that turns Infrastructure Lifecycle Management and Security Lifecycle Management into code. CISO Tribune files both under Non-human identity security and Privileged access management. This page sets the two records side by side: what each sells, where it is based, who owns and funds it, the customers it names and its recent news, each fact numbered to its source.

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  • C1.ai
  • HashiCorp
C1.ai vs HashiCorp: Products, Customers and Funding Compared
C1.aiC1.ai gives agents policy-controlled access to models, tools, and credentials at runtime.c1.aiHashiCorpHashiCorp sells The Infrastructure Cloud, an integrated platform that turns Infrastructure Lifecycle Management and Security Lifecycle Management into code.hashicorp.com
What it sells
  • AI-Native Identity Governance[1][2]Automates lifecycle, access requests, reviews, and compliance for human and non-human identities.
  • NHI & Identity Security[1][2]Discovers and alerts on identity and non-human identity risks across the workforce and agents.
  • Agent SSO & Runtime Governance[1][2]Enforces runtime guardrails and access controls for AI agents, with human-in-the-loop approval.
  • Apps & MCP Self Service[1][2]Provides on-demand self-service access to approved apps, MCPs, and AI tools.
  • Deploy Custom Agents[1][2]Lets organizations run autonomous agents across connected systems with guardrails.
  • Shadow AI Discovery[1][2]Finds unsanctioned AI tools, agents, MCP servers, and credentials in use.
  • Vault[1][4][7][8][9]Vault is used for secrets management operations.
  • Boundary[1][7][8]Boundary brokers credentials to targets through external credential sources such as HashiCorp Vault.
  • HCP Terraform[4][6][10][11]HCP Terraform provisions cloud resources through automation.
  • Terraform Enterprise[10]Terraform Enterprise is an infrastructure as code tool.
  • Infragraph[4]Infragraph gives a view of a hybrid estate through a knowledge graph.
  • Packer[8]Packer workflows are used for image compliance in Azure.
  • HashiCorp Cloud PlatformHCP is a unified suite of SaaS products for infrastructure and security lifecycle management.
Categories
Headquarters
Not stated on its pagesNot stated on its pages
Founded
Not stated on its pages2012[2]
Ownership and funding
Not stated on its pagesOwned by IBM since 2025[3][6][11][12][15][16]
Named customers
Not stated on its pagesNot stated on its pages
Recent news
  • October 13, 2026Workday announced it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire C1.ai, with the transaction expected to close in the fourth quarter of Workday's fiscal year 2027, ending January 31, 2027.[9]
  • October 27, 2026HashiCorp introduced the Terraform Developer Portal in public preview, according to a post listed on its Terraform blog.[15]
G2 and Gartner Peer Insights
  • G2: Not stated on its pages
  • Gartner Peer Insights: Not stated on its pages
  • G2: listed, seen November 10, 2026[16]
  • Gartner Peer Insights: Not stated on its pages
Who it fits
From its own pages, C1.ai sells to organisations that manage access for people, non-human identities, and agents, and to technical teams that extend the platform through APIs and Terraform. The pages describe governed access for infrastructure teams through the tools they already use. The pages cover on-premises technology such as Active Directory and back-office apps. A named energy-sector customer sought an identity governance solution after an external auditor recommended one to streamline user access reviews.Organizations can implement The Infrastructure Cloud through the HashiCorp Cloud Platform, self-managed solutions, or a combination, across a hybrid environment. Customers named on its pages include a company that partners with medical organizations and an Italian telecommunications company. HCP Terraform is described with minimum privileges for developers, cloud engineers, and operations managers.
Last verified
November 2, 2026October 21, 2026

Where they overlap

  • C1.ai and HashiCorp are both filed under Non-human identity security and Privileged access management.

Where they differ, field by field

  • C1.ai's primary category is Identity governance and administration; HashiCorp's is Privileged access management.
  • C1.ai is also filed under AI model and agent security. HashiCorp is also filed under Secrets detection.
  • C1.ai lists AI-Native Identity Governance, NHI & Identity Security, Agent SSO & Runtime Governance, Apps & MCP Self Service, Deploy Custom Agents and 1 more. HashiCorp lists Vault, Boundary, HCP Terraform, Terraform Enterprise, Infragraph and 2 more.
  • HashiCorp was founded in 2012.
  • HashiCorp is owned by IBM, since 2025.

What it sells: HashiCorp

What Boundary does[1][7][8]
Boundary integrates with external credential sources such as HashiCorp Vault to broker credentials to targets. HashiCorp describes using Boundary to automatically discover target hosts and services for access to on-demand infrastructure.
What HCP Terraform does[4][6][10][11]
HCP Terraform enables automated provisioning of cloud resources. Vodafone Italy uses HCP Terraform to create databases, set up its repository and team structure on GitHub, and create CI/CD pipelines.
What Terraform Enterprise does[10]
Terraform Enterprise helped AGL create configuration files to define infrastructure. AGL chose Terraform Enterprise over the community edition because of its enterprise-specific features.
What Infragraph does[4]
Infragraph delivers a single pane of glass view of a hybrid estate through a centralized, event-driven knowledge graph. HCP Terraform Standard and Premium customers now have access to Infragraph.
What HashiCorp Cloud Platform does
The HashiCorp Cloud Platform (HCP) is a unified suite of SaaS products that automate the lifecycle management of the infrastructure and security supporting critical applications. Organizations can implement The Infrastructure Cloud through HCP, self-managed solutions, or a combination of the two.

Questions about C1.ai and HashiCorp

What do C1.ai and HashiCorp sell?
C1.ai sells AI-Native Identity Governance, NHI & Identity Security, Agent SSO & Runtime Governance, Apps & MCP Self Service, Deploy Custom Agents and 1 more. HashiCorp sells Vault, Boundary, HCP Terraform, Terraform Enterprise, Infragraph and 2 more.
Are C1.ai and HashiCorp in the same category?
They share Non-human identity security and Privileged access management. C1.ai's primary category is Identity governance and administration and HashiCorp's is Privileged access management.
When were C1.ai and HashiCorp founded?
HashiCorp was founded in 2012.
Who owns C1.ai and HashiCorp?
HashiCorp is owned by IBM, since 2025.
Who are C1.ai and HashiCorp sold to?
From its own pages, C1.ai sells to organisations that manage access for people, non-human identities, and agents, and to technical teams that extend the platform through APIs and Terraform. Organizations can implement The Infrastructure Cloud through the HashiCorp Cloud Platform, self-managed solutions, or a combination, across a hybrid environment.
What have C1.ai and HashiCorp announced recently?
October 13, 2026: Workday announced it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire C1.ai, with the transaction expected to close in the fourth quarter of Workday's fiscal year 2027, ending January 31, 2027. October 27, 2026: HashiCorp introduced the Terraform Developer Portal in public preview, according to a post listed on its Terraform blog.

About C1.ai

C1.ai gives agents policy-controlled access to models, tools, and credentials at runtime. C1 Agents complete multi-step jobs across connected systems, with human approval for sensitive changes. C1.ai connects to SaaS, cloud infra providers, on-prem systems, and MCP servers.[2]

On the governance side, C1.ai turns HR and directory events into day-one account and access changes across supported systems. C1.ai provisions users the access they need based on conditions and policy. C1.ai applies policy-based provisioning and routing to any connected system. C1.ai covers user access reviews and separation-of-duties (SoD) conflict detection. C1.ai gives people and agents self-service access to approved applications and AI tools, with policy applied before fulfillment.[1][2][3]

For self-service, C1.ai makes approved apps, MCP servers, AI tools, roles, and permissions discoverable from one catalog. People and agents can request access from the web, Slack, Microsoft Teams, MCP, API, or CLI. C1.ai auto-approves routine access and routes sensitive requests using identity, role, resource, and risk context. C1.ai expires just-in-time access automatically so temporary permissions do not become standing access.[4]

For cloud infrastructure, C1.ai provides engineers and agents with precisely scoped cloud access. C1.ai reads cloud providers' resource trees, preserving the parent-child relationships each platform uses natively. C1.ai resolves inherited permissions in real time. C1.ai provisions, adjusts, and revokes access automatically as roles change, teams shift, or agents are redeployed.

Every action in the console is available via API, and C1.ai operates as an MCP server. C1.ai governs human, service, workload, and AI agent identities from one control plane. C1.ai logs every action with full context: subject, actor, delegation chain, purpose, resource, policy, and outcome. C1.ai supports policies as Terraform, AI-written CEL and functions, and validation via API. Technical teams extend C1.ai with APIs, custom functions, CLI, webhooks, and an AI integration builder, and manage it with Terraform.[2][6]

C1.ai includes 300+ connectors, built on Baton, which is open source under Apache 2.0, that integrate IdPs, directories, SaaS apps, cloud infrastructure, and on-prem systems into one identity graph. The connectors can be hosted or self-hosted. The identity graph ingests identity, permission, and resource data from all of your systems. C1.ai visualizes access paths for users, non-human identities, applications, and resources. C1.ai addresses access risks such as orphaned accounts, inactive users, and high-risk users. C1.ai offers built-in remediation options such as downgrading access, offboarding accounts, and securing service accounts. C1.ai connects to non-cloud infrastructure, including LDAP, Postgres, and Microsoft SQL. C1.ai covers on-premises technology such as Active Directory and homegrown and back-office apps.[1][6][7]

IGS Energy started looking for a partner after an external auditor recommended an identity governance solution to streamline user access reviews.[1][2][8]

C1.ai on the record

Sources

C1.ai full record

  1. [1]conductorone.comConductorOne (C1.ai) · conductorone.com · undated page, accessed November 2, 2026 · Tier A
  2. [2]C1.ai | Put AI to WorkC1.ai · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  3. [3]AI-Native Identity Governance Solutions | C1.aiC1.ai · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  4. [4]Self-Service Access for Apps, MCPs, and AI Tools | C1.aiC1.ai · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  5. [5]Infrastructure Access - C1.aiC1.ai · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  6. [6]Headless Identity Infrastructure | C1.aiC1.ai · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  7. [7]Identity Graph - C1.aiC1.ai · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  8. [8]Automating access management and reducing risk for IGS Energy’s hybrid environment | C1.aiC1.ai · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  9. [9]Workday to Acquire C1.ai, a Leading Agentic Identity Platform for People and AgentsC1.ai · published October 13, 2026 · Tier A

HashiCorp full record

  1. [1]hashicorp.comHashiCorp · hashicorp.com · undated page, accessed October 21, 2026 · Tier A
  2. [2]AboutHashiCorp · hashicorp.com · undated page, accessed October 21, 2026 · Tier A
  3. [3]PressHashiCorp · hashicorp.com · undated page, accessed October 21, 2026 · Tier A
  4. [4]HashiCorp | An IBM CompanyHashiCorp · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  5. [5]HCP Brand Guidelines - Product LogosHashiCorp · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  6. [6]HashiCorp Product PricingHashiCorp · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  7. [7]Topics in the Security categoryHashiCorp · published October 29, 2026 · Tier A
  8. [8]Security with HashiCorp and Microsoft AzureHashiCorp · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  9. [9]HashiCorp - athenahealthHashiCorp · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  10. [10]HashiCorp - AGL EnergyHashiCorp · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  11. [11]HashiCorp - Vodafone ItalyHashiCorp · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  12. [12]Privacy at HashiCorpHashiCorp · published April 20, 2026 · Tier A
  13. [13]Security at HashiCorpHashiCorp · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  14. [14]Technical Support Services and PoliciesHashiCorp · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  15. [15]The Stack by HashiCorpHashiCorp · published October 27, 2026 · Tier A
  16. [16]IBM Terraform (formerly HashiCorp Terraform) Reviews 2026G2 · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier C

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