In the pro AV industry, motorized shading has long been something that architects and interior designers specify late in the project, while the AV integrator is already deep into other aspects of the job. That disconnect is costing integrators money and opportunity. That is exactly what Somfy wants to fix by emphasizing how automated shading fits into the pro AV ecosystem.
Somfy on Automated Shading and the Broader Commercial AV Stack
In a video interview with Commercial Integrator, Karthick Kanagalingam, architectural specifications manager at Somfy, walks through exactly how shading fits into the broader commercial AV stack and why early coordination matters. He describes what the industry calls the “gray zone” — that being, the point where no single division owns end-to-end functionality, leaving integration protocols undefined, gateways unbid and change orders surfacing at the worst possible time.
The answer, Kanagalingam argues, is open ecosystems and validated interoperability. “Our goal [is] ultimately to help integrators avoid proprietary vendor lock-ins by ensuring technologies that operate and integrate seamlessly with their preferred platforms,” he says. That means tested, native integrations with Crestron, Q-SYS, Extron and other platforms that integrators reach for every day, along with fabricator agnosticism that lets integrators specify any shade fabricator while maintaining full control standardization with Somfy motors.
Kanagalingam makes the case with a concrete scenario. When a presenter taps “presentation mode” on an AV touchpanel in a smart boardroom, he explains, a coordinated multi-system sequence should execute across four distinct layers in under five seconds: blackout shades descend, overhead lighting adjusts for screen contrast, the AV system powers up and routes correctly, and the BMS shifts the HVAC for an active meeting. “The end users want a unified interface,” Kanagalingam explains. “And that’s where the integrator comes in.”
Watch the Full Interview with Karthick Kanagalingam
Check out the conversation with Kanagalingam, embedded below, for a practical look at how Somfy can help pro AV and automated shading converge. The full interview reveals exactly where the company and its automated shading solutions fit in integration businesses like yours.
