Editor’s Note: This article featuring Paul Lee and his 2026 predictions is part of Commercial Integrator’s series running throughout the month of January. In this series, we spotlight forward-looking insights from some of the pro AV industry’s most notable luminaries.
As we look ahead to 2026, the pro AV industry stands at the cusp of exciting opportunities and transformative trends. To explore what lies ahead, Commercial Integrator turned to Paul Lee, VP of WyreStorm Americas, for his expert predictions on the technologies and strategies that will shape the future of pro AV.
Paul Lee 2026 Predictions
Commercial Integrator: Without getting into any specific vendor or particular branded solutions, what technology category or solution area do you see as 2026’s ripest, most profitable growth opportunity for pro AV integrators and installers? Explain your reasoning.
Paul Lee: The next evolution of integrated pro AV solutions will be moving from “smart rooms” to “perceptive rooms” and the opportunity lies in enabling AI-driven, automated AV-as-a-Service (AVaaS).
First, I define “smart rooms” as a space with automation. For example, a system that can be turned on with a press of a button or can recognize occupancy and automatically activate lighting or AV systems. Many of these rooms often come with asset monitoring and management capabilities, enabling faster and more reactive troubleshooting.
The “perceptive rooms” are the next evolution of the “smart rooms.” They are systems that are context-aware, both spatially and socially. This is a room that can recognize objects in the space and determine what’s missing (i.e. a specific number of chairs or an always-missing whiteboard eraser). The current level of technology is not quite there, but I expect to see products that provide these types of context-aware services emerge in the near term.
Lastly, AVaaS is a trend driven by the commoditization of AV hardware and the rise of powerful software-based solutions in the industry. It will be unlikely for pro AV integrators and installers to enjoy similar levels of profitability when products continue to be miniaturized or integrated. AV integrators who recognize this trend and actively upskill their teams to enable AI-driven AVaaS revenue streams will not only survive but thrive in the near future.
Commercial Integrator: Which emerging AV technologies do you think are overplayed? Which ones do you think will truly transform the practice of integration in the coming years?
Lee: Rather than label some emerging technologies as overplayed, I see societal and behavioral challenges preventing these impressive technologies from being fully embraced. For example, holographic displays are one such case. I see a few demos at every pro AV tradeshow I attend, and the technology behind the displays is quite impressive. The challenge is that most of the data we consume is still designed for flat screens. We read text on paper, hang pictures on walls and consume digital media formatted for flat displays. Unless there is a fundamental shift in how we record and consume media, I don’t see holographic displays becoming anything more than a specialized or experiential application, such as museums or showcases.
Another example would be VR headsets for meetings. I realize there are many global technology companies investing heavily in this area, and I’m confident that ubiquitous wearable VR headsets will become available. But similar to how telephones, telepresence and other communication tools never eliminated travel or in-person meetings, I see VR headsets falling into a similar category. The human desire to connect in person is too strong for VR to truly replace physical meetings. However, I do envision a future where hybrid meetings include in-person, online and VR participants, much like how online participation is now expected in modern meeting spaces.
As for truly transformative technologies, I see purpose-built or trained AI agents combined with remote monitoring and management platforms as a major shift. In my past experience, I’ve had many conversations around measuring room utilization, user experience and ROI. Those discussions often ended with the realization that automating this level of insight was impractical with previous technologies, requiring excessive custom coding and yielding solutions too specialized for broad deployment. Today, improved data collection combined with specialized AI agents can finally address this challenge, allowing pro AV solutions to deliver and even guarantee measurable business outcomes.
Commercial Integrator: What’s getting better about the pro AV industry these days? What seems to be getting worse?
Lee: I see greater awareness of user experience design than ever before. I rarely encounter touch panels with more than 10 buttons today, and there are noticeably fewer cables and connection points on tables during site visits. Consultants have been leading this shift for years, and manufacturers are now catching up, empowering integrators to deliver cleaner, simpler and more intuitive systems.
What’s getting worse is the declining perceived value of hardware. Basic meeting room AV hardware continues to become more accessible and commoditized, placing further pressure on margins.
Commercial Integrator: What’s liable to catch some pro AV industry integrators and installers off guard in the coming year?
Lee: Network used to be the answer for a long time, but it is cybersecurity now. Recent news about vulnerability of smart/connected devices (i.e. React2Shell) along with proliferation network-based audio and video streaming signals have brought this issue to the forefront. Integrators who can provide full security audit documentations to show that their systems comply with enterprise level security will have an advantage.
Commercial Integrator: What’s the single most pressing challenge that professionals in the pro AV industry must tackle right now? And how would you suggest tackling it?
Lee: Recognizing that none of us are in the business of selling products, but rather in the business of selling better user experiences and measurable outcomes, is the most pressing challenge.
By positioning pro AV solutions around business outcomes, we elevate the value of our services relative to what’s truly at stake for our customers. Early in my career as a system designer, I remember asking, “just tell me how many sources you have and how many displays you need.” That question reduced complex challenges to simple input-output counts, ignoring experience and outcomes. The resulting designs were pedestrian and often devolved into price-driven decisions around a single box. Many of those designs were likely further value-engineered by integrators or customers.
Instead, we must identify the real challenges customers are trying to solve. It could be a university technology leader overwhelmed by service calls, budget constraints limiting classroom upgrades or an overstretched AV technician in a multinational F&B chain who needs systems that work effortlessly during peak hours. There is always a desired outcome behind every AV requirement. Matching the right technology to achieve that outcome is the real business we’re in, and this consultative approach is where integrators can command a premium.
Commercial Integrator: Finish this sentence: 2026 will be remembered as the year that the pro AV industry…
Lee:…stopped counting inputs and outputs and started delivering perceptive rooms that guarantee business outcomes.
Stay tuned with Commercial Integrator as we gather year-end insights and 2026 pro AV predictions from the brightest minds in the industry. If you’d like to be featured, contact our editorial team (Alyssa Borelli, Amala Reddie and Dan Ferrisi).
