We continue our series of 2026 security industry predictions with Barry Norton, fellow at Milestone Systems. He looks ahead to 2026 and beyond to predict what changes could be afoot.
Barry Norton 2026 Security Industry Predictions
Read on to check out Barry Norton’s 2026 security industry predictions. We’ll have many more predictions from others among the brightest minds in the security industry throughout the month!
Security Sales & Integration: 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.
Barry Norton: The real opportunity in 2026 lies not in any single technology but in the convergence of intelligent systems working together as a connected ecosystem. Artificial intelligence agents, digital twins and smart cameras and sensors, to name a few, are most powerful when deployed through open platform architectures that allow them to share context and insights.
Organizations are moving beyond isolated security tools toward unified intelligence that flows from the control room to field personnel and back again. In the near future, these workflows will start to involve wearables that go beyond passive body-worn cameras and enable on-the-move intelligence via AI assistants.
Integrators who can design and support these collaborative systems will find themselves at the center of how modern security operations work, delivering value that goes far beyond traditional services.
SSI: Which emerging security technologies do you think are overplayed? Which ones do you think will truly transform the practice of security integration in the coming years?
Norton: The technologies that will truly transform our industry are those designed to enhance human capabilities rather than replace them. The future isn’t about autonomous systems making decisions independently; it’s about intelligent tools that help security and facilities professionals see patterns faster, understand context better and make more informed decisions.
This human-centered approach to technology deployment will separate solutions that deliver lasting value from those that overpromise and underdeliver.
SSI: What’s getting better about the security industry these days? What seems to be getting worse?
Norton: The industry is experiencing a fundamental transformation from passive recording systems to intelligent platforms that actively support decision-making. Video security is no longer just about capturing data for forensic review; it’s about extracting real-time insights that help teams work smarter and respond faster.
Open architectures are giving organizations unprecedented flexibility to integrate the specific capabilities users need without vendor lock-in. The human-in-the-loop approach is maturing with technology designed to augment professional judgment rather than replace it. The complexity of modern systems does require more specialized expertise, but the trajectory is overwhelmingly positive.
SSI: What’s liable to catch some security industry dealers, installers and integrators off guard in the coming year?
Norton: The speed of AI agent adoption will catch many by surprise. Organizations aren’t experimenting anymore; they’re scaling AI across daily operations faster than most anticipated. End users will quickly expect intelligent systems to handle routine security tasks in a near autonomous way and integrators who aren’t prepared to deploy and support these capabilities will find themselves at a disadvantage.
The market is moving from “should we adopt AI?” to “how fast can we deploy it?”
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?
Norton: Building and maintaining trust through ethical AI development and deployment is the defining challenge of our time. As systems become more sophisticated at analyzing behavior and predicting events, we must address legitimate concerns about privacy, consent and algorithmic bias head-on.
The path forward isn’t complicated in principle: transparent policies, auditable decisions and maintaining humans in the loop to verify AI recommendations before action is taken. Organizations that adopt frameworks like the G7 AI Code of Conduct and design systems with privacy protections built in from the start will establish the trust necessary for AI to reach its full potential.
This isn’t just about compliance; it’s about proving that intelligent security technology can enhance safety while respecting individual rights.
SSI: Finish this sentence: 2026 will be remembered as the year that the security industry…
Norton: …fully embraced proactive intelligence over reactive monitoring. This is when the industry stopped viewing video data as a passive recording function and started leveraging it as an active intelligence platform that helps teams anticipate problems before they escalate.
Technology finally began serving people rather than simply observing them, with connected systems that share context across teams and enable faster, more informed responses. The shift from defense to proactive protection defines this moment in our industry’s evolution.
Click here to check out all the entries in our 2026 security industry predictions series!
