The hallways at PSA TEC in Denver were teeming with security integrators sharing anecdotal in-the-field stories, sharing advice for selling within different verticals and de-briefing the various sessions. One such talking point was the inspirational keynote delivered by Jon Acuff, a New York Times bestselling author, which had everyone wondering if they were a dreamer, a perfectionist, a hustler or an analyst. He took attendees through an early-morning journey about permission, as he argued that most barriers people experience are rooted in mindset, thus they’re simply waiting for permission to complete their goals. He emphasized that people can, and should, give themselves the permission to do the things they want to do, and that there are four “permissions” that will always lead to success:

• The permission to dream — what do you want to do? This is where “dreamers” get stuck; they have ideas, but they don’t execute them.
• The permission to plan — how will you do it? This is where “perfectionists” get stuck; if the plan isn’t perfectly written and executed, it will never come to fruition.
• The permission to do — are you doing it? This is where “hustlers” get stuck; they’re always ready to go, go, go, but they may not plan properly or check on the results of their ideas.
• The permission to review — did it work? This is where “analysts” get stuck; they will spend so much time reviewing the market that they won’t advance their strategies.

Another source of inspiration and motivation came from the Women in Security Forum luncheon. Panelists — moderator Candice Aragon, chief experience officer, PSA; Tia Eskandari, senior director, national field service, Allied Universal Technology services; Alaina Meyer, president, scDataCom; Liz Bacus, sales engineer manager/FedGov project engineer, Integrated Security Technologies; and Tracy Larson, president, WeSuite — shared their (overwhelmingly unplanned) paths into security and their responses to biases and limited advancement opportunities, as well as the fulfillment they felt from navigating these challenges and becoming recognized security leaders. While barriers for women in security do remain, the industry is rapidly changing, and simple acts like confidence, mentorship, allyship and continuous learning will continue to shift security into a diverse business.

Beyond high-level motivational talk, what many integrators were discussing was AI, as it came up in nearly every session PSA TEC offered. There were multiple sessions dedicated to AI: what it looks like in action, how it’s transforming video surveillance, leveraging it for video analytics, how it’s changing the marketing landscape and more. As an editor, and someone personally invested in how AI is going to change the world, I chose to attend many of these AI sessions. Here are my takeaways.

AI was the central theme in the opening “State of the Industry: Trends, Challenges & What’s Next for Security Integration” discussion, which approached the state of security from four different angles: investment banking (represented by Alper Cetingok, senior managing director, Raymond James Investment Banking); an association (represented by Don Erickson, CEO, SIA); integration (represented by John Petruzzi, CEO, Unlimited Technology); and manufacturing (represented by Heather Torrey, general manager of commercial security, Honeywell).

The consensus was that AI is necessary to scale as the security industry evolves at the most rapid pace is ever has. Like we found at ISC West, security companies’ AI approach is shifting from “we have it” to “here are our products, services and outcomes — and, by the way, we use AI to achieve this.”

Cetingok said the industry’s rapid growth is driven by the convergence of digital and physical solutions, higher complexity of technology and, of course, the main impacts of AI. “We’re embracing it as an industry,” he said. He also noted the increased value of the industry as private equity continues to invest in security. When SDM discussed last year’s M&A landscape with leaders earlier this year, we found that AI and investment in technology are primary factors of consideration for buying companies — so while value is high, it’s still important to be knowledgeable and increase AI adoption to garner a competitive advantage.

Moderator Matt Barnette, president and CEO of PSA, described the security industry’s approach to AI as having a “Ferrari appetite with a Ford budget.” But there are simple and cost-effective ways to stay on the AI road. Petruzzi highlighted two phases of AI for security companies: general AI for businesses, such as a subscription to ChatGPT, and actual business enablement tools, which support sales cycle, leverage AI agents and increase productivity HR and other business operations.

From a manufacturing perspective, Torrey — who represented Honeywell on stage, but officially began her new position at dormakaba just after the conference — said the key to addressing better outcomes with AI is having discussions with integrators and speaking to end users about their core problems. Just like many security companies’ approach to AI, it’s imperative to focus on the “what if?” and not get stuck in a “we’ve always done it this way” mindset. It’s impossible to scale without challenging the status quo.

Erickson mentioned that we, as an industry, must wrap our heads around what types of education we need to stay ahead with AI. “Something we develop today might not be relevant in a month,” he said. He has a vision for an industry-wide AI roadmap that will help all security companies approach and keep up with AI within SIA SPARC (Security Practitioners Advancing Real Conversations).

As the complexity of the industry changes, Cetingok said businesses need to be more efficient, optimize and test boundaries — all things that can be accomplished with proper exploration and implementation of AI. With that, though, he also emphasized the need to think strategically and build an AI roadmap — because AI outcomes will be positive, but AI itself will come with many challenges. “Think multiple steps ahead,” he advised.

The AI train kept rolling with a breakout roundtable discussion titled “AI in Action: Department-by-Department Use Cases for Real Productivity Gains.” The session kicked off with a survey to gauge where everyone stood with AI. In a room of approximately 50 integrators, 47% were exploring AI, 47% were piloting AI and 5% claimed to be fully integrated. No one in the room hadn’t started their AI journey yet, which says a lot about where AI is currently, and where it’s heading.

Moderator John Nemerofsky, chief operating officer, SAGE Integration, ran through the session by asking pertinent questions about AI to panelists Joshua Cummings, executive vice president, technology, Bosch Building Technologies, and Nate Gardner, CEO, Solutions360. Their answers culminated in tactical strategies and pertinent advice for moving through the AI landscape without becoming overwhelmed.

Beyond success stories (i.e. using AI to skim resumes, enhance the sales cycle and train new employees) and cautionary tales (i.e. making sure you’re using the enterprise version of AI tools to protect data, and paying close attention to new laws and regulations about AI), the audience was curious about the best tools to use and the best ways to use them. During the session’s Q&A, an audience member asked, “How would you guys suggest identifying which AI tools are best for what purposes? Because it seems there are so many out there.”

The overwhelming response was to lean on and learn from internal and external networks of fellow integrators. “I would talk to the other 194 owners in the room and see where they failed,” Nemerofsky said.

“Ultimately, you will never move fast enough on your own,” he added. “There is so much information our brains can’t even comprehend the amount of change that’s coming even in a day. What’s really going to make this work is that you’re learning from each other both internally and from your network and identifying and testing things that you can change. Because if you try to figure it out on your own, you’re always going to be behind.

Another audience member asked, “Can you provide some insight to a roadmap as far as which departments you can give the best bang for your buck?”

For this, Cummings suggested looking at stand-out bandwidth challenges. “If you’re having a hard time getting proposals out, or you’re having a hard time managing projects — whatever your biggest pain points are, focus on that because AI will have the biggest impact there,” he said.

Gardner concluded, “If you don’t have every single part of your organization testing this, you’re going to miss the opportunities. What you need is central governance — your end users coming back and telling you, ‘this is where we can add value,’ and then you would centrally make investment decisions in those things. But if it’s coming from a sequential, ‘I’m going to try it here, then I’m going to try it here,’ AI adoption is going to be way too slow.”

Another way AI is going to affect the security industry is in marketing. AI in marketing isn’t limited to simple strategies like using ChatGPT to come up with a witty LinkedIn post. Marissa Vacek (managing director) and Karlie Turner (digital marketing specialist) of Swell, a PSA marketing agency, hosted a session about how AI is affecting consumers’ interactions with search engines and how integrators can shift their marketing strategies to meet end users where they are.

The session looked at three different ‘optimization’ strategies: the classic search engine optimization (SEO), the newer answer engine optimization (AEO), and the “Wild, Wild West” of generative engine optimization (GEO). To put it simply:

• SEO is where your website ranks among other pages across the internet. A good SEO strategy leads to you ranking within the top 10 web links when consumers look something up.
• AEO deals with how credible your website is and how well it answers consumer questions. A good AEO strategy means you’re being cited in Google’s AI overviews as a reliable and trusted source of information.
• GEO is an added layer of credibility. A good GEO strategy will have your website cited on programs like ChatGPT, which consumers are increasingly using as search engines — even if that’s not what they’re designed for.

Although AEO and GEO cannot be ignored in good marketing strategies, SEO remains foundational. Turner emphasized, “SEO is not dead. You still want to make sure you’re ranking in those top 10 search results, but we [also] need to format our content now for those AI-generated overviews.”

Instead of focusing solely on keywords, the average marketer now has to focus on brand reputation and being a reliable source of truth. “You have to make sure that your website checks the boxes to show up when someone says something like, ‘Hey Google, where’s a security company near me?’ You have all the appropriate information in there for it to show up in that AI overview,” Turner said.

What does that look like? There are multiple ways to do this, such as creating a FAQ page. “If you don’t have one, you’re already behind because answering questions on your website is the fastest way to be able to be sourced in those AI overviews,” Turner said.

Some integrators have decided to sprinkle their FAQ throughout the website. “If they have a specific service line, they’re putting common questions about the service line on that page, so then it can direct the AI directly to that page,” Turner said. 

Back-linking and internal linking are also winning strategies to increase AEO and GEO. Internal linking is the easiest step; each page on your website should link to something else on your website so you’re creating an interconnected customer journey that allows users to seamlessly travel across your products and services. Back-linking is where credibility comes in, and it can be tricker to accomplish. A back-link is when your website is linked in another website — for example, if you write for an industry publication, and they link back to your website. This indicates to AI tools that you are a trusted brand because other credible sources are linking back to you.

Ultimately, the human element is still critical throughout this process. “The more that you use AI to make the content on your website, the less credit you will have because you are pulling from other sources on the web to make your website,” Vacek said. “You really want everything on each page to be true to you and to try to accredit your business for what you do in the field.”

AI’s Here to Stay

Clearly, AI is having, and will continue to have, a huge impact on the security ecosystem. From the mouths of integrators and manufacturers alike, it’s imperative to keep your thumb on the pulse of AI and continue exploring, taking action, and sharing your successes (and failures!) so the industry can continue to learn and advance together.