2026 to mark a turning point for video surveillance

As the global security landscape evolves, the video surveillance industry is entering a period of fundamental change. According to Naresh B Wadhwa, Managing Director and Vice Chairman of Videonetics, the sector is moving beyond incremental technology upgrades towards systems that deliver actionable intelligence rather than volumes of raw data.

“As we transition into 2026, the video surveillance industry is experiencing a transformative shift that goes far beyond incremental technological upgrades,” Wadhwa said. “We’re moving from an era of overwhelming data collection to one of genuine, actionable intelligence, an evolution that will fundamentally redefine how organisations approach security operations.”

He noted that video surveillance is no longer about recording and storing footage, but about interpreting events in real time and enabling faster, more informed decision-making.

From data capture to contextual intelligence

One of the defining trends for 2026 will be the semantic convergence of data across multiple video systems. Wadhwa explained that AI agents will increasingly collate semantically connected information, creating collective intelligence rather than isolated data streams.

“This represents a paradigm shift from traditional surveillance architectures that operated in silos,” he said, adding that such convergence will allow organisations to gain a holistic view of incidents as they unfold.

At the same time, contextual intelligence is set to replace basic video analytics. Advanced multimodal AI systems will enable surveillance platforms to distinguish genuine threats from routine behaviour, significantly reducing false alarms that have long strained security teams and undermined operational efficiency.

“Organisations will finally move beyond rudimentary object detection to sophisticated threat assessment,” Wadhwa said.

AI becomes foundational, not optional

Artificial intelligence and machine learning are also expected to become standard components of modern surveillance systems. Once considered premium features, these capabilities are rapidly becoming foundational, reshaping how humans interact with security platforms.

According to Wadhwa, semantic and natural-language search will play a key role in this shift. Operators will be able to locate critical events using conversational queries, rather than spending hours manually reviewing footage. This, he said, will help democratise advanced surveillance capabilities, making them accessible to organisations of all sizes.

VSaaS and the shift in security economics

The business model underpinning video surveillance is also changing. Wadhwa pointed to the growing adoption of Video Surveillance as a Service (VSaaS), which is accelerating the move away from capital-intensive hardware investments towards flexible, subscription-based operating models.

“This change allows organisations to scale their security infrastructure in line with actual business needs rather than upfront capital constraints,” he said, describing the shift as a significant enabler for both enterprises and public sector deployments.

Edge AI, IoT and 5G drive convergence

Looking ahead, deeper integration with IoT sensors and ultra-low-latency 5G networks is expected to unlock new mobile-first and distributed security applications. Wadhwa said this convergence will be particularly important for large, geographically dispersed environments such as smart cities, transportation networks and industrial sites.

He also highlighted the growing importance of hybrid architectures that combine edge AI, cloud and on-premise computing. “Edge-first intelligence reduces latency, lowers bandwidth costs and strengthens data privacy,” he said, while hybrid designs help balance performance, resilience and regulatory compliance.

A defining moment for the industry

Wadhwa believes the year ahead will mark more than incremental progress for the surveillance sector. “We’re entering an era where video surveillance systems genuinely understand context, operate with intelligence, and integrate seamlessly into broader security ecosystems,” he said.

As organisations demand smarter, faster and more reliable security solutions, the video surveillance industry appears poised for its most significant transformation to date, one that could redefine both technology and trust in the years ahead.