What will be the big topics of discussion at ISC West 2026?

At ISC West 2026, the focus will shift toward how intelligence, integration, and human context are coming together in practical ways. The industry is moving beyond isolated point solutions and toward systems that help security teams understand situations and act with confidence. Conversations will center on how technology supports people; not how much technology can be added. One of the biggest themes will be AI that does more than generate alerts. Agentic AI is gaining attention because it can interpret context, reason across multiple data sources, and handle routine actions without constant operator involvement. This helps reduce noise, improve response consistency, and allows security professionals to focus on decisions that require human judgment. Digital twins will also be a major topic, evolving from static visualisations into operational environments that help teams plan, test scenarios, and respond more effectively using live data. Another key discussion will focus on how intelligence reaches people in the field. Wearables, lightweight augmented reality (AR) displays, and natural voice interaction with AI agents are changing how guards and facilities teams access information in real time.

At ISC West 2026, agentic AI and unified security will be everywhere — on banners, in booths, and in every keynote. But beyond the headlines, resellers and end users will be asking practical questions: What does it actually do? How does it strengthen my business? What outcomes will it deliver, and what return can I expect? With unified security, the focus is clear — reduce complexity, apply AI in practical ways, simplify operations, consolidate vendors, and create new margin opportunities. Agentic AI and unified security are real innovations, but they only matter if security manufacturers can demonstrate that they drive growth, profitability, and simplicity for resellers and their customers. ISC West is a prime opportunity to do so.

I expect one of the major themes at ISC West 2026 to be business intelligence — specifically, the growing role that modern cameras and sensors play in driving operational efficiency and profitability. While these devices have their roots in security, organisations today are leveraging them to streamline day-to-day operations and deliver actionable insights that support smarter, data-driven decision-making. And as organisations place greater emphasis on extracting value from data, the shift toward the AV1 video encoding standard is allowing them to get even more out of their video data. AV1 addresses the rising demand for high-resolution video without significantly increasing bandwidth or storage costs, enabling ultra-high-resolution deployments at scale. This and other technologies tailored toward improving efficiency while reducing costs will be a popular topic of conversation.

The elephant in the room will undoubtedly be AI. Artificial intelligence is reshaping almost every industry, and the security sector is no exception. How AI can be leveraged in security applications will be the defining conversation at ISC West 2026. As we explore how and where to implement AI in security technologies, we must also address its impact on security personnel — professionals whose roles will be transformed or, in some cases, eliminated. Beyond workforce considerations, we need to engage in thoughtful dialogue about the safe and responsible application of AI. What safeguards should we, as an industry, adopt to prevent the very technologies designed to protect people and property from being weaponised? This is a critical question that demands our attention. A related but distinct opportunity lies in the massive infrastructure buildout currently under way. Tech giants are investing billions in multi-gigawatt data centers that require comprehensive protection. Access control, intrusion detection, building management systems, and video surveillance represent just the beginning of the security solutions these facilities demand.

At ISC West this year, the most meaningful conversations will focus on how organisations make long-term technology decisions. Cloud will still be a recurring theme, but organisations are looking for choice and solutions that evolve with their needs. There will be strong interest in solutions that let organisations decide how, when, and where their systems are deployed. This could be on-premises, in the cloud, or a mix of both. End users do not want to be locked into an ecosystem that limits flexibility and scalability. AI will likely continue to dominate the show floor. Substantive discussions will center on outcomes. Many organisations look past the hype and are focusing on how AI can support human decision-making. Security teams want AI-enabled tools to cut through noise and help them work more effectively in complex, real-world environments. There is also growing awareness that these tools do not replace the operator and need to be used responsibly.

At ISC West 2026, the industry conversation will largely revolve around the continued adoption of cloud platforms, AI-powered solutions, and intelligent video monitoring. As organisations seek greater scalability and remote accessibility, the decisive shift away from traditional on-premises systems to the cloud will be a central theme. The conversation around AI video analytics will focus on the technology’s latest leap towards agentic capabilities, able to provide actionable intelligence that can identify threats and operational insights. I also anticipate a significant focus on video monitoring services, where these AI-driven insights are paired with professional oversight to reduce false alarms and improve response times. The discussions around these three topics are all correlated, as they are building more proactive, efficient, and advanced security solutions for businesses everywhere.

With Reed Exhibitions putting an extra emphasis on biometrics at the ISC West Show this year, I really feel this will be the buzz on the show floor. We have seen a wide adoption of touchless biometrics-based access control systems over the past year with facial, palm and iris recognition becoming more popular. Our industry’s end user is driving the demand for biometrics as there are too many security risks associated with ID cards/fobs, and mobile credentials can be costly to implement. We are seeing customers asking for biometrics ranging from small start-ups to large enterprise organisations, and the security industry is taking notice.

I think we will see three big themes that are really interconnected. AI and computer vision are starting to move from hype to real deployment, which is probably the biggest conversation happening right now. The challenge that we are also facing is how to standardise AI metadata so these insights can be understood among systems made up from multiple vendors. Cloud is closely tied to that. We are past talking about whether cloud matters and now focusing on how systems talk to each other in the cloud — and being free from proprietary cloud interfaces that limit end users to the offerings of a single vendor. That means open standards have never been more important. We are seeing renewed energy around interoperability because people realise vendor independence is not just about cameras anymore. It is about protecting your investment as everything evolves with AI capabilities and cloud integration in nearly every segment of our market.

The most meaningful conversations around AI will move beyond demos and into real-world trust and usability. Generative AI is starting to change how people interact with video, but the industry is learning quickly that where and how GenAI runs matters as much as what it does. Expect strong debate around GenAI at the edge versus cloud-only approaches, especially in regulated and mission-critical environments where latency, uptime, and data control are non-negotiable. Another major theme will be transparency. Security teams are no longer satisfied with black-box outcomes. They want systems that can show how conclusions were reached, keeping humans firmly in the decision loop. That ties directly into ethical AI, governance, and emerging standards. Finally, GenAI will be discussed less as a standalone feature and more as an interface layer. Natural-language search and investigation workflows are reshaping how operators extract value from video, turning pixels into actionable data without adding operational complexity.

Following a wave of innovations in AI and machine learning, many integrators are asking what it takes to deploy these technologies successfully. As organisations seek to update their infrastructure and build unified security systems, the physical design decisions that drive these systems are key — especially when retrofitting existing devices, expanding video surveillance networks, and upgrading access control applications. It may not seem buzzworthy, but most modern security applications still require extensive retrofits. Without a strong physical design foundation, even the most advanced platforms will struggle to deliver value. As such, tools that bridge intelligent software with real-world systems will ensure unified security systems are practical, scalable, and ready for long-term use. Ultimately, unified security either succeeds or fails at the design stage.

At ISC West 2026, many conversations will center on how security teams and integrators are operationalising technology trends that have dominated recent industry discussions, particularly machine learning and hybrid cloud architectures. After several years of broad AI promises, the focus is shifting toward applied machine learning that delivers measurable outcomes (e.g., faster incident detection, fewer false alarms, and more effective prioritisation for operators). For many integrators, what matters is not how advanced an AI model is, but how effectively it can integrate into daily workflows. Hybrid cloud will be a major theme for similar reasons. It reflects how most organisations are deploying and scaling systems today. As machine learning workloads grow, balancing the flexibility of the cloud with the resilience and predictability of the edge has become a proven, pragmatic approach — one that aligns with both operational realities and long term modernisation strategies.

At ISC West 2026, discussions on access and identity will focus on convergence becoming an operational reality rather than just a talking point. Organisations are accelerating toward converged physical and logical credentials, driven by the need for a single identity that works consistently across doors, networks, and cloud applications. The Future of Security Convergence theme at the show reflects a clear customer direction: the siloed badge-for-buildings model is fading. Biometrics will also draw attention; particularly as facial recognition moves from niche deployments into mainstream access control. The availability of HID Amico in North America shows demand for practical, fit-for-purpose facial recognition solutions that deliver touchless access without unnecessary complexity. Data center security will be another focal point as we launch the Mercury app environment at the show. One of the first apps, the KS210 server cabinet lock app, highlights the essential role of edge intelligence in protecting critical, high-value, high-availability data center environments.

Conversations will focus on how physical and digital security are converging to protect increasingly complex, mission-critical environments — from commercial buildings to data centers powering the AI economy. As threats evolve, systems will need to have the underlying software capabilities to evolve when new risks are identified. With 64% of security leaders using or planning to implement AI-powered solutions, security leaders will be focused on operationalising it responsibly, to protect people, systems, and trust across connected systems. As security providers shift toward unified platforms, emphasis will also be placed on leveraging data across devices and systems to gain clearer visibility and actionable insight for security functions, as well as building management needs, to support energy efficiency, uptime, and resilience, particularly in data and energy intensive environments. Overall, discussions will centre on futureproofing, stronger platform integrations, and deeper, AI-supported analysis of data patterns to meet evolving security needs.