At E4 Experience in Boston, Dan Smith, executive vice president at Almo Pro AV, describes 2026 as a year built on recovery after months of uncertainty. “The year’s been very unpredictable,” Smith tells Commercial Integrator. “It has been very unexpected in terms of the ups and the downs of the industry.”
However, Smith notes that the second half of the year depicts a different story. “The past six months have shown better stability,” he enthuses.
Read on to learn more about Dan Smith’s predictions on emerging trends for the AV industry in 2027 and how Almo Pro AV aims to support customers and partners as they assess business prospects for next year.
What Emerging Trends Should Integrators Watch Heading Into 2027?
Smith points to three forces driving momentum: display recovery, video conferencing growth and a temporary pause in the rapid growth of the LED market.
He underscores that as organizations complete their shift from audio calls to video, the demand for fully built-out meeting spaces will keep climbing, and Microsoft Teams Rooms (MTR) certification will emerge as central to that growth.
“By building a Microsoft Teams Room-certified solution, you’re able to capture notes and do all the things that you want to do in a meeting [and] take advantage of the AI [tools],” he explains.
The E-Paper Momentum
Smith adds that the LED segment keeps surprising him. “I’m constantly amazed at how much it’s still growing,” he states, noting strong sales in the 135-inch and 163-inch categories alongside steady gains in flat field uniformity and color consistency.
From Smith’s perspective, e-paper is a category that integrators need to look out for. “E-paper is poised to really change the industry sometime in the next five years,” he says.
Smith advises integrators to choose e-paper when static, always-on content matters more than video performance. He adds that falling costs coupled with larger sizes — including 32-, 43- and 55-inch panels — are finally making the decade-old technology commercially viable.
Outdoor-capable, UV-resistant versions are also on the horizon, proclaims Smith. He estimates static applications to outnumber video applications by 50 to 100 times, meaning e-paper could open categories AV has never addressed.
“I do not anticipate the e-paper to match LCD or OLED or LED for performance,” clarifies Smith. “But it can create an incremental market.”
Is AI in Meeting Rooms Overhyped or Underhyped?
Smith draws a sharp line between corporate AI broadly and AI inside the meeting room. “I think AI in general is overhyped,” he says, citing a consultant’s finding that just 6% of corporate AI projects produce a measurable benefit.
However, Smith considers meeting rooms the exception. “If you have not used MTR AI (the Microsoft Teams Room AI), you don’t understand what you’re missing,” Smith adds. “I think it’s underhyped.”
He urges resellers to build a fully AI-enabled Teams Room in their own office first, pairing AI tracking cameras with beamforming microphones so they can demonstrate the experience to customers before selling it.
“It’s not about a camera and a microphone, it’s about the data, the communication and the style,” he remarks.
What Other Innovations Are Shaping the AV Industry?
Smith highlights spatial displays as a retail opportunity for integrators. “I think the retail applications for [such displays are] another one that changes the size of the market,” he remarks.
On the infrastructure side, Smith credits AV-dedicated networking gear with solving bandwidth and quality-of-service challenges for standard IT networks.
Emphasis on Communication
Smith emphasizes the aspect of communication, noting that it resides in every form of technology.
“Whether it is a spatial display in a retail environment communicating what the product is or an LED display communicating the advertisement or spreadsheet or a conference room literally communicating with each other, everything comes down to communication,” he explains. “So, everything we do should be centered around how we can communicate better and more effectively, without [wasting] time on the tactical [aspects].”
What Challenges Will Integrators Face in 2027?
According to Smith, the biggest gap in the AV industry lies in MTR fluency.
“I would say a lot of people are not familiar with everything it takes to do an MTR-certified room,” he says, adding that success depends on staying current with certifications and new products.
However, Smith emphasizes that Almo Pro AV’s services business is responding to this gap, growing roughly 50% year over year as resellers continue to outsource engineering, programming and installation work.
“There are a lot of things that we’ve done in order to better serve the market such as the new website,” he says. “The new website is designed to really help our resellers be more effective at [addressing tactical information] and for our manufacturers, it’s significantly enhanced in terms of communication of the products, features and capabilities.”
Terming it as another “communication bubble,” Smith reveals that the aim of the new website is to help resellers and manufacturers run a more successful business in an efficient manner.
The Bottom Line for Integrators
Smith’s message for 2027 is straightforward: build AI-enabled meeting rooms now, watch e-paper and spatial display categories for new revenue and lean on partners like Almo Pro AV to close the knowledge and services gap when deploying MTR-certified solutions.
To learn more about the latest emerging trends and connect with industry experts, visit the Almo Pro AV website.
