Along with the SCN Top 50 Systems Integrators 2025 list, we polled a selection of leading firms on current Pro AV industry trends.
How is AI impacting your business and projects?
Travis Askew, COO, Solutionz
AI is helping us automate backend operations, augment design resources, and, occasionally, answer interview questions. As an AI advocate, it’s been exciting to watch the technology evolve. What started as spell check 2.0 for most folks is now part of our daily rhythm, touching nearly every part of the business. It’s not a gimmick. It’s a force multiplier that helps us work smarter, eliminate monotony, and spend more time where it matters, connecting with people and clients. AI will soon be as critical to the business as our CRM.
Keith Neubert, CEO, WPS
AI can be an incredible tool for amassing information that would otherwise be an intensive Google search project to gather, parse, and reframe information into a cohesive and consistent presentation. AI allows for the framing of questions and needs in conversational language that saves incredible time, because complex ideas and concerns no longer need to be boiled down to a simple keyword search. Where AI is potentially misapplied, overused, and even abused is relying on it to think for you. AI is not an expert in the field of AV, business, accounting, procurement, logistics, engineering, or project management. It’s only going to provide you with a condensed sample of the information it can collate from available digital sources.
Theresa Hahn, VP of Client Success, USIS AV
The biggest impact of AI, so far, is across our managed services in diagnostics and reporting. Our client experience still comes from a balance of human expertise and intelligent technology, though—the insight and empathy of real people with the efficiency and precision of AI. We believe this is the ideal model for today’s multi-generational workforce.
Mike Cavanagh, President, Key Code Media
AI is increasingly embedded in our client solutions, whether through automated camera tracking, live transcription and captioning, or predictive maintenance for AV systems. We see AI not as a replacement for human expertise but as an augmentation of it. That aligns perfectly with our “Beyond the Install” philosophy: combining advanced automation with the deep human understanding that ensures reliable, long-term system performance.
Deb Zupancic, PTG
At PTG, we’ve taken a very intentional and strategic approach to AI—not chasing the hype but focusing on real use cases that drive performance and enhance how we operate. We began by developing a company-wide AI policy that outlined approved platforms, defined appropriate use cases, and emphasized strict protocols to ensure no proprietary or client information was shared. From there, we carefully vetted the rapidly growing landscape of AI solutions and aligned on a company initiative centered on Microsoft Copilot as our primary platform. We’re already using AI to accelerate and strengthen our responses to RFPs, streamline inventory management, and build out detailed scopes of work. In addition, we’ve been actively evaluating emerging industry-specific AI tools designed for integrators. While many of these solutions are still maturing, we’re keeping them on our radar as future options once they’re ready to meaningfully integrate into our workflows.
Kris Begnaud, VP Sales, Data Projections
We use AI to streamline sales and marketing (content, proposals), peer review designs for compliance/consistency, serve as a coding assistant for internal tooling, and meeting streamlining, including post-meeting summaries.
Rick Stuart, VP of Technology and Innovation Vision Technologies
AI is no longer considered a future upgrade—it’s already being applied in the security and Pro AV space with features like camera tracking, predictive maintenance, smart signage, etc. This enables AV systems to be more intelligent, efficient, and responsive—and improves availability and uptime that translates into better user experiences and improved operating costs. The industry is undergoing a shift from hardware-heavy to software/cloud/AI-capable systems, and this is providing expanded opportunities for integrators, such as predictive services, monitoring with an emphasis on data analytics, and recurring revenue. One thing that has not changed is that success still depends on quality installation and commissioning—technology alone isn’t enough. Integration with multiple systems, user adoption, training, and support after the implementation all matter. For those working in Pro AV, now is the time to upskill in areas like networking, cloud systems, analytics, and AI-enabled control systems, because the demand on integrators for innovative solutions is rising.
Musfik Dogancay, Executive Director, JKL Technologies
Use of AI in our day-to-day business and projects is unquestionably going to increase and will strikingly change how we work. However, today, it has been limited to more exploratory, niche uses, and not necessarily part of our day-to-day processes. One can say that is because the solutions are in early stages and not mature enough. One can say users need to become more comfortable with the products and methods to take advantage of them. But the reality is, we are in the midst of a revolutionary change in all of our business processes, and it is left to us to either sit back and watch it happen or to dive in and experience it.
Matt Thorne, EVP, ECC
It’s hard to determine what’s the best use case to incorporate AI into a business where there are so many options and swift advancements in technology. Utilizing narrow AI solutions to supplement the day-to-day workflow of anybody from accounts payable to project management we believe provides the quickest ROI. Identifying opportunities in a documented workflow that narrow how AI can be used sets the stage for further AI strategies.
Jeremy Elsesser, President and CEO, Level 3 Audiovisual
We’re in the discovery phase of how to fully leverage AI across the business. What’s clear already is the productivity gains. It is freeing up our team to focus on bigger, more complex challenges. We’re leaning into an AI first mindset wherever it makes sense, and we’re learning (and failing) fast. Ask me again in six months.
