In the realm of Customer Identity and Access Management (CIAM), authentication is merely one aspect of a more complex engineering problem, involving authorization, identity management, and integration with various systems. A robust CIAM solution requires careful consideration of questions such as how users become part of the system, what information to store, how to prove identity during authentication, and how to control access to resources. Effective Identity flows must balance user experience with security and compliance standards, while common attacks like fraudulent signups and MFA bypass require protection measures. The journey from fundamental capabilities to advanced Identity management involves stages such as scaling, optimizing, and integrating Identity within broader technology stacks. A strong CIAM platform relies on industry standards like OAuth2.0, JWTs, and SAML, offering APIs for easy integration with software and built-in support for various authentication factors and identity providers.