As we continue our series with security industry leaders looking back on the past 12 months with 2025 reflections and looking ahead with 2026 predictions, today we hear from Abraham Alvarez, vice president of product at Verkada.
Security Sales & Integration: What has been the most important change we’ve seen this year in security?
Abraham Alvarez: Security data will become a strategic asset that extends far beyond safety. Security cameras, access control systems, alarms and sensors are capturing valuable data that is often disparate and underutilized.
As cloud-connected devices and artificial intelligence continue to advance, the data generated by security systems will reshape how organizations understand and optimize their physical environments. For example, access events, occupancy trends and movement patterns offer insights into how office spaces are used or how retail stores are staffed.
Organizations that can integrate these data streams with other business systems to make smarter, faster operational decisions like space utilization, energy efficiency and employee experience. Ultimately, this evolution will shift how security teams are perceived – from cost centers focused solely on protection to value creators that drive efficiency, insight and strategic decision-making across the organization.
SSI: Without getting into any specific vendor or particular branded solutions, what technology category or solution area do you see as 2026’s ripest, most profitable growth opportunity for security dealers, installers and integrators? Explain your reasoning.
Alvarez: Agentic AI tools will be able to power a security operator’s entire workflow, enabling them to focus on their highest-value work: artificial intelligence is already redefining what it means to secure the physical world. Tools to date have been focused primarily on speeding up investigations and, while that is incredibly valuable, it’s really just the start of what AI can do.
As AI models become more capable and intuitive, they’ll transform physical security into a proactive, intelligent discipline that helps teams detect and deter incidents before they escalate, not just respond after the fact. In the year ahead, we’ll see AI quickly become an active partner to security operators.
Natural language interfaces will make complex searches and investigations conversational. Predictive analytics will surface anomalies and trigger deterrence measures automatically before they need human intervention. All of this will free security professionals to focus on their highest-value work and create safer buildings, campuses and communities around the world.
SSI: What’s the single most pressing challenge that professionals in the security industry must tackle right now? And how would you suggest tackling it?
Alvarez: The rise of AI-generated video will force organizations to verify what’s real. As generative AI models grow more sophisticated, distinguishing authentic security footage from fabricated clips will become increasingly difficult – and increasingly important.
Deepfakes that once took hours to produce can now be generated in minutes, making it easy to create convincing yet entirely false video evidence. This shift will have major implications for security teams that rely on video footage to make critical decisions.
From insurance claims and workplace investigations to law enforcement reviews, the ability to authenticate video content will soon be a prerequisite for trust. Expect verification tools – those that can confirm whether footage has been altered or AI-generated – and processes to become standard across enterprise security.
