We continue our series on 2025 security industry reflections and 2026 predictions with Satish Raj, chief technology officer at Pro-Vigil. He looks back at the biggest developments in security in the past year and what changes could be ahead in 2026 and beyond.
Satish Raj 2025 Security Industry Reflections and 2026 Predictions
Read on to check out Satish Raj’s 2025 security industry reflections and 2026 predictions. We’ll have many more predictions from others among the brightest minds in the security industry throughout the month!
Security Sales & Integration: What kind of year has 2025 been for the electronic security and physical security industries?
Satish Raj: 2025 has been a year where the realities of economic uncertainty have caught up with physical security vulnerabilities. Many industries have operated against a backdrop of volatile material costs, supply chain disruptions, and varying tariffs that have made everything in a business or on a property more valuable, and more attractive, for thieves.
In short: 2025 has been about reckoning and recalibration. Businesses are realizing that in a high-cost, high-risk environment, physical security is no longer a secondary concern. It’s a resilience strategy.
SSI: What has been the most surprising development in the security industry this year?
Raj: The biggest surprise has been where artificial intelligence is really taking off. Everyone expected AI to transform what end users see, such as smarter cameras, better analytics, automated alerts. That’s happening. But the quiet revolution in 2025 has been inside the security providers themselves.
The surprising development: AI is transforming the industry from the inside out, making integrators and monitoring providers vastly more efficient before many end users even realize what’s changed.
SSI: What has been the most important change we’ve seen this year in security?
Raj: Unpredictable tariffs and material costs mean the financial stakes of theft and vandalism are significantly higher than they were just a few years ago. For example, NAHB estimates that 7% of building materials come from outside the U.S., and with levies on imports from certain countries, both value and increased risk are driven to construction sites.
The mindset shift to a layered approach to physical security, combining AI-enabled remote video monitoring, audio/visual deterrents and human monitoring into a 24/7 defense is subtle but profound: security is evolving from a cost of doing business to a revenue protector and growth enabler in an uncertain economy.
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.
Raj: In 2026, the biggest growth opportunity won’t be a specific tool as much as the continued development of AI-enhanced managed security services that streamline the security outcomes customers look for.
Dealers, installers and integrators that package AI-powered remote video monitoring (RVM), camera health monitoring, active deterrence and business-facing reporting into a single managed offering will be best positioned to grow.
Instead of selling hardware once, integrators can deliver recurring, outcome-based services with fewer incidents, reduced losses and lower operating risk, all backed by AI that scales far beyond what a human-only team can manage.
SSI: Which emerging security technologies are overplayed, and which will truly transform security integration?
Raj: AI without a clear workflow is overplayed. Standalone analytics or smart cameras that don’t feed into a clear escalation path (where human monitors, deterrents and law enforcement are involved) provide little value if they’re not working harmoniously. Indeed, that becomes a budget loss rather than the ROI people were seeking.
Truly transformative:
- AI-powered remote monitoring: Platforms that combine motion detection, AI analysis, human verification and active deterrents in a single pipeline are already changing the economics of security service delivery.
- GenAI-driven incident intelligence: Using generative AI to summarize incidents, generate customer-ready reports and push timely security insights will fundamentally change how quickly customers can act on security data.
- Layered, service-centric designs: Solutions that blend AI, live monitoring, audio/visual deterrents and flexible mobile/fixed deployments into a unified, data-backed service give integrators a way to standardize and optimize their system.
The next wave of transformation won’t be about a single sensor or algorithm. It will be about orchestration: how all of these pieces work together to deliver reliable, measurable security outcomes.
SSI: What’s getting better about the security industry? What seems to be getting worse?
Raj: Proactivity is getting better. More organizations are moving from “record and store” to “detect and deter.”
What’s getting worse:
- Economic pressure: Between rising input costs and tariff uncertainty, some organizations are tempted to “save” by cutting or delaying security investments exactly when their assets are most valuable and attractive to criminals.
- Threat sophistication and expectations: Thieves are exploiting poorly monitored, high-value sites, while customers increasingly expect real-time visibility, metrics and transparency from their security partners. Those who are still selling static systems with minimal service will find it harder to compete.
SSI: What’s liable to catch security dealers, installers and integrators off guard in 2026?
Raj: The speed at which basic AI becomes table stakes is likely to catch many off guard. End users may not understand the technical underpinnings but they interact with AI everywhere else in their businesses. As they learn how AI underpins modern RVM, from motion analytics to automated reporting, their expectations for responsiveness, insight and accountability will rise exponentially.
Providers that can’t show AI-driven results in plain business language will look outdated overnight.
SSI: What’s the single most pressing challenge the security industry must tackle right now? How should it be addressed?
Raj: The single most pressing challenge is closing the gap between what technology can do and how it’s actually being used.
On the provider side, we still see too many deployments where advanced capabilities (AI analytics, active deterrence, health monitoring, customer portals) are either under-configured or not linked to clear processes and KPIs.
To tackle this, the industry needs to:
- Lead with education: Show customers, in simple terms, how AI-enabled RVM and layered security reduce specific risks (like theft of high-value materials or vehicles) and protect cash flow and timelines.
- Standardize around service-centric architectures: Build solutions that always include proactive monitoring, clear escalation paths and regular reporting.
- Measure and communicate outcomes: Use AI-accelerated reporting to show crimes deterred, interventions made, and arrests supported, so security is seen as a proven business enabler rather than an opaque expense.
Until we close that adoption and execution gap, we’ll be leaving both security value and business value on the table.
SSI: Finish this sentence: 2026 will be remembered as the year that the security industry…
Raj: … stopped selling cameras and started selling certainty.
It’s the year when RVM, AI, and human expertise finally converge into mainstream, outcome-based services. When physical security is formally recognized as part of the resilience and financial strategy of businesses, not just the facilities budget or contingency. Providers who embrace that shift now will be the ones writing the future of this industry.
