We continue our series offering 2025 security industry reflections and 206 predictions from industry leaders with thoughts from longtime Monitoring Matters columnist and Giacalone Associates president Peter Giacalone.
Security Sales & Integration: What kind of year has 2025 been for the electronic security and physical security industries?
Peter Giacalone: 2025 was a robust year on many accounts. Technology adoption appears to come in a more expedient manner than in previous periods. M&A remains strong with continued beefy valuations.
SSI: What has been the most surprising development in the security industry this year?
Giacalone: With the great misunderstandings and overwhelming overuse of the term “artificial intelligence”, I am pleased to see the mindful adoption of AI in a variety of applications. I am especially motivated to continue to experience how central station monitoring companies are adopting a variety of AI initiatives, including conversational AI.
SSI: What has been the most important change we’ve seen this year in security?
Giacalone: With UL827A baked into UL827 as a UUFO designation, I am pleased to see many legacy full-service companies that have provide their own in-house monitoring for decades partner with a UUFO center for hosting, redundancy and impactful features and services.
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.
Giacalone: Without a doubt, AI applications. Very specifically, conversational AI is proving every day that it is a great path to complement staff for improved service levels in a very effective and efficient manner.
SSI: What’s getting better about the security industry these days? What seems to be getting worse?
Giacalone: Through a variety of newly adopted technologies that are transforming legacy features, policies and procedures, organization are really stepping up their value propositions and levels of service.
SSI: What’s liable to catch some security industry dealers, installers and integrators off guard in the coming year?
Giacalone: Because some say that service levels of the many roll ups that are causing some super regionals and national integrators to grow exponentially will fall, I see that as these larger enterprise companies have started to leverage great technologies as AI and they have modified tasks, some of the companies are becoming more effective with happier clients.
SSI: Finish this sentence: 2026 will be remembered as the year that the security industry…
Giacalone: … continued great acceleration of the adoption of AI toward changing the complexion of their businesses to create raging fans of the company.
