Modern applications require always-on identity management to meet the demands of global, connected users. Legacy systems can't handle this level of demand and often suffer from downtime, which can cripple product experiences. Ory redefines IAM for the cloud-native era with modular, open-source, API-first components that scale independently and support complex use cases like fine-grained access control, passwordless login, and social sign-ins. OpenAI, a leading AI company, needed a resilient, multi-region CIAM platform to support its global user base for ChatGPT. They deployed Ory's identity stack on CockroachDB, a distributed SQL database known for enterprise-ready resilience, to achieve global consistency, automated failover, and high availability across regions. This solution ensures secure, scalable, always-available IAM and has become a baseline requirement for customer-facing applications. The integration of Ory and CockroachDB provides a powerful pattern for building composable, scalable IAM backed by a globally distributed, resilient SQL database. By adopting this approach, organizations can build secure, available, and consistent identity systems that support uninterrupted access and engagement.