The Security Industry Association (SIA) has released its 2024 Security Megatrends report, which identifies the top 10 factors influencing both short- and long-term change in the global security industry.
SIA’s 2024 Security Megatrends were selected based on fall 2023 survey data and focus group input received from hundreds of security business leaders, association leadership, key volunteers, and speakers for the 2023 Securing New Ground conference, which took place Oct. 17-18 in New York City. Each year, SIA produces the megatrends report and makes it available for free.
The 2024 report revealed that there is no trend larger or more impactful to the security industry than artificial intelligence (AI), but this trend is so vast and multifaceted that it is split into four components that are trends unto themselves.
2024 Security Megatrends
- AI: Security of AI
- AI: Visual Intelligence, Not Video Surveillance
- AI: Generative AI
- AI: Regulation of AI
- Expansion and Evolution of Security’s Return on Investment
- Evolution of the Integration Business Model
- Security as a Service
- Impact of the Megatech Companies
- Real Estate Reoptimization
- IT-OT Convergence
When surveyed for the report, 93% of SIA members said they expected to see generative AI like ChatGPT make an impact on their business strategies within the next five years, and over 89% said they had AI projects active in their research and development (R&D) pipelines. However, 54% of security tech firms said their public perception of some AI technologies (e.g., facial recognition) was limiting their further expansion into AI applications. In response to the industry’s hyperfocus on artificial intelligence, SIA has launched an AI Advisory Board.
“As every great business leader knows, the value of their people is of the most importance, and that still holds true in a world that relies more on AI,” said James Rothstein, SIA’s Board of Directors chair and operating partner with Lee Equity Partners. “Protecting people will always be the greatest value we can provide, but as an industry, we are insatiable in our quest for progress and will never stop as we unlock new value for our customers, clients, and partners.”
Other key stats from the report include:
- 33% of surveyed SIA members expect sustainability initiatives to make a strong impact on their business or product strategies within the next five years; and
- 78 million security cameras were shipped globally in 2022.
Additionally, new for 2024’s report is a section on “foundational trends”: Issues like cybersecurity, sustainability, workforce development, and changing economic conditions are no longer viewed as future-looking megatrends, but instead as common concerns for all business leaders in the security industry.
Download the 2024 Security Megatrends report for free here.