Our penultimate entry in the 2026 security industry predictions series continues with prognostications for the next 12 months and beyond from Stephanie Haldane, vice president of end user business development for physical access control at HID. Haldane shared her 2025 security industry reflections in a post last month.
Stephenie Haldane 2026 Security Industry Predictions
Read on to check out Stephenie Haldane’s 2026 security industry predictions. We’ll have 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.
Stephenie Haldane: One of the biggest opportunities lies in modernizing the very large installed base of legacy hardware. Many organizations are still running readers and credentials that predate current cyber requirements. These environments create real risk, both physically and digitally.
Upgrading to modern, cyber-hardened ecosystems gives integrators and dealers a strong recurring business model. It also helps customers close known vulnerabilities while unlocking new capabilities like mobile, identity management and unified reporting.
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?
Haldane: There is a lot of noise around advanced artificial intelligence tools and futuristic sensor technology. While they may be interesting, most customers are not ready for them, and they do not address the real challenges most organizations are dealing with.
What will truly transform our space are technologies that simplify and modernize the customer experience. Mobile credentials, hybrid cloud access control, open APIs and unified platforms that bring access and video together in a single workflow. These advancements reduce complexity, strengthen resilience and create long-term value for both integrators and customers.
SSI: What’s getting better about the security industry these days? What seems to be getting worse?
Haldane: One of the most encouraging trends is the rise of women stepping into leadership roles across the industry. Greater representation is strengthening collaboration, improving innovation and shaping a healthier, more inclusive culture.
What is getting worse is the shortage of skilled professionals. The demand for technical expertise is rising faster than the supply. Workforce development has not kept pace with the complexity of today’s systems, and that gap is putting pressure on integrators, dealers and end users alike. We need to act now, collectively, to attract fresh talent and build the next generation of security professionals.
SSI: What is likely to catch some dealers, installers and integrators off guard in the coming year?
Haldane: The rapid rise in cyber expectations tied to physical security. As physical and logical (digital) access converge, customers are no longer separating the two. They expect hardened configurations, proper credential management, secure APIs and ongoing patching.
Integrators who are not prepared to meet those requirements will struggle against competitors who can demonstrate efficient control and strong cyber maturity. As our VP of product management, Jim Dearing, constantly reminds me, “use the tools we supply, not just the products.”
Being able to manage a fleet of readers from your phone, for example, is powerful and saves time. The bar is rising quickly and customers are asking far more pointed security questions than they were even two years ago.
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?
Haldane: The most pressing challenge is the talent shortage. The industry does not have enough trained professionals to support the growth ahead. Addressing it requires intentional investment. That means clearer career pathways, stronger partnerships with schools and technical programs, hands-on training, mentorship and proactive recruitment of new and diverse talent.
Without a focused effort, the skills gap will widen and slow progress for the entire sector.
SSI: Finish this sentence: 2026 will be remembered as the year the security industry…
Haldane: … recognized that workforce development is not optional and began investing seriously in the next generation of talent.
Click here to check out all the entries in our 2026 security industry predictions series!
