Executive Summary
- AV Technology's Cindy Davis shares a 30,000-foot view from her interviews with nearly 20 AV/IT industry experts on the state of AV/IT today.
- Hybrid Migration: Organizations are taking an incremental, vendor-agnostic approach to transition to networked AV/IT environments without disrupting operational continuity or replacing functional legacy hardware.
- Unified Security: AV devices are treated as core network endpoints, requiring robust authentication, encryption, and segmentation to align with broader enterprise IT security standards.
- AI & Cloud Integration: Cloud management and agentic AI are driving operational efficiency by automating routine configurations, facilitating predictive maintenance, and centralizing remote control.
- Links to all the interviews.
After nearly 20 interviews, I am sharing a 30,000-foot view of what I am hearing on the state of AV/IT.
The transition to networked AV/IT environments represents a fundamental shift in how organizations manage communication infrastructure, and industry leaders agree that wholesale replacement of existing systems is rarely the practical path forward. While manufacturers widely offer comprehensive networked suites, the primary barriers to adoption remain consistent across the industry: the necessity of maintaining operational continuity with legacy hardware that has not reached the end of its lifecycle, the complexities of integrating AV into established IT security frameworks, and the resource constraints faced by lean technical teams.
Many experts advocate for an incremental, hybrid approach that treats existing investments as assets rather than obstacles. By leveraging interoperable, vendor-agnostic platforms, organizations can integrate new IP-based technologies alongside legacy equipment, allowing for phased migration on their own schedules rather than forced infrastructure overhauls. This strategy avoids the cost and disruption of a “rip-and-replace” mentality while enabling facilities to scale capabilities as budgets and priorities allow.
Security is no longer viewed as an isolated concern but as an extension of enterprise governance. As AV devices become critical network endpoints, they must adhere to the same authentication, encryption, and segmentation standards as any other IT asset. Manufacturers emphasize that shifting AV traffic to the network offers an opportunity to bring disparate devices under a unified security umbrella, provided that planning begins with security in mind rather than as an afterthought. Many experts note that a dedicated AV network, rather than simply merging everything onto the corporate LAN is often the most effective way to balance high-bandwidth requirements with manageable risk.
AI and cloud technologies are playing pivotal roles in this transition, serving as catalysts for both efficiency and smarter operations. Cloud platforms function as the essential control plane, offering centralized visibility, remote management, and proactive diagnostics that reduce the operational lift for distributed teams. By removing the need for manual, on-site troubleshooting, cloud-native tools allow IT staff to focus on higher-level governance and strategic planning.
Artificial intelligence is evolving from a theoretical concept into a functional tool for automation and intelligence. AI is being utilized to analyze operational data, predict potential failures, and automate routine configuration tasks, reducing the “learning curve” that has historically kept some networked AV out of reach for smaller organizations. The emergence of agentic AI, capable of interpreting intent and interacting with systems through standard interfaces, is beginning to shift the operational model from manual navigation to automated, intent-based management.
The consensus among industry leaders is that the future of professional AV is not defined by the breadth of a manufacturer’s hardware portfolio, but by the intelligence of the ecosystem managing it. Success depends on open architecture and strong partner integrations that allow customers to maximize their current infrastructure investments while progressively layering on the cloud-based management and AI-driven insights that define modern enterprise environments. The goal is a transition that is additive and secure, transforming meeting spaces into intelligent data hubs where technology fades into the background, supporting consistent, high-quality collaboration without requiring constant human intervention.
