A few days ago, I watched my third and last child graduate high school. It was of course an emotional time — I am both sad to see this chapter of my life end and also thrilled to never again get the dozens of weekly school-related calls, texts and emails. Sitting at the ceremony listening to speaker after speaker, there was a definite through line in what they had to say to the class of 2025: this was a class profoundly impacted by the pandemic, entering high school after a year or more of online school feeling more like the 7th grade student they were the last time they entered a classroom than the 9th grader they were now. Because of that, they faced both academic and social challenges, but rose above them to now be poised to take the next step on their life’s journey.

For my son, that means college in the fall, where he will be part of program designed to help him figure out what he wants to major in. As he and many “undecided” students like him embark on this process, one of the considerations they must factor in is how technology — particularly AI — might impact their chosen profession. For some, it might mean pivoting to a different choice (computer science is not the hot major it was just a few short years ago, for example). But as digital natives who embraced AI immediately and enthusiastically, I have no doubt they will find a way to turn it to their advantage and capitalize on the opportunities it will bring to them.

Which is exactly what this year’s top security integrators have done. Writing the 2025 Top Systems Integrator Report, I was at first surprised by how different the comments seemed from the SDM 100 companies, who were by an large more tepid in their categorization of business in 2024 and the outlook for 2025 than the integrators — particularly since a fair number of them are the same companies.

Despite challenges ranging from big changes in technology to high inflation and interest rates as well as emerging tariff concerns, the top 100 security integrators collectively brought in the highest North American systems integration revenue in a decade of the report — $18 billion — with more than 60 percent of them also reporting an increase in profits as well.

It remains to be seen where AI will take both the security industry and the world at large, but there is no doubt … that it will play a major role.

What made the difference? For many it seemed to be the vertical markets they focus on and the willingness of both their company and their customers to embrace new technologies such as cloud-based services, proactive video monitoring and, yes, AI.

“The market in 2024 was very strong,” wrote Brent Edmunds, president of Stone Security, ranked No. 18. “The demand for our products and services seemed to jump to new levels compared to 2023. Stone finished 2024 with more momentum than any of our team can recall for many years. Data centers, healthcare and distribution/logistics sectors were particularly hot, but all sectors showed promise for future expansion and need for our services. We did not feel any significant impact from the negative macro-economic factors pestering the country.”

Two the top opportunities for 2025 the integrators pointed to time and time again in the comments were AI and video monitoring.

Mike McWilliams, president & chief operating officer, Everon, No. 3, wrote: “We believe that the continued evolution and expansion of applications in the video space will result in a seismic shift in the industry. From video monitoring to video analytics and beyond, our customers are increasingly turning to us with business needs beyond surveillance that video can solve.”

Which makes this year’s Video Monitoring Supplement cover story, “Accuracy, Efficiency & AI in Video Monitoring,” particularly timely.

It remains to be seen where AI will take both the security industry and the world at large, but there is no doubt — both for my son and his contemporaries looking towards their future path and security integrators and dealers — that it will play a major role.