Our series highlighting 2025 security industry reflections and 2026 predictions continues with Tom LeBlanc, executive director of the National Systems Contractors Association (NSCA). We’ll add more reflections and predictions for the security industry every weekday this month and well into January.
Security Sales & Integration: What kind of year has 2025 been for the electronic security and physical security industries?
Tom LeBlanc: There was sense of enthusiasm in the security industry during 2025 that was very evident at industry events. That’s likely because the solutions that security integration companies offer have never been more important.
Physical security has always been critical but the stakes are even higher as so many companies, schools and businesses are focused on getting people back into their spaces. They know it’s mission-critical for those people to feel safe, secure and healthy. They count on their consultative relationships with security integration companies and the solutions they offer to build that confidence.
This is true in every market but consider K-12 and the work that integrators do – often in lockstep with Partner Alliance for Safer Schools (PASS) guidelines. For example, integrators take disparate systems needs in schools – access control, vaping detection, artificial intelligence, facial recognition – and they make it work in a way that school administrators and employees can understand.
The complexity of the systems that go into the schools can more or less make the people that work in the schools stressed out. It’s right up integrators’ alley to make schools safer, to make students and teachers feel safe in the classroom. That way they can do their important work.
The same can be said for every vertical market and it’s why security integrators are more important than ever.
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?
LeBlanc: Security integrators need to be focused on making sure they have the right talent in place to help them evolve with their customers’ needs. Customers need a trusted integrator to talk them through what they need to know and what they need to plan for.
They’re aware of how important AI is to their security solutions and their workflows, but they need their trusted integrator to explain it to them. They are aware of how network-connected their systems need to be, but they’re concerned about cybersecurity. They expect their trusted integrator to provide peace of mind.
The integrators that have the expertise and in-house talent in place to guide customers through their journeys are in an extremely positive position. The ones that aren’t should be concerned about being left behind.
