• Network-Centric Infrastructure: AV became a permanent resident on the IT network. We focused on stability and ensuring that remote participants had a "seat at the table."

• Manual Intelligence: "Smart" meant you could tap a screen to join a meeting. Cameras could frame a group, but often required manual presets or basic motion triggers.

• The Hub Concept: The room was a collection of smart peripherals, cameras, mics, and displays, all talking to a central hub (like a Teams or Zoom Room compute).

• Hybrid collaboration as standard – Seamless support for in-room and remote participants using unified conferencing platforms.

• Interactive displays everywhere – Interactive flat panels replacing projectors in classrooms, boardrooms, and training rooms.

• AI-assisted audio & video – Noise cancellation, auto-framing cameras, speaker tracking, and voice lift systems are improving meeting quality.

• Wireless BYOD environments – Easy laptop and mobile device connectivity without cables.

• Centralised AV management – IT teams monitoring devices, firmware, and room health remotely.

• AV-over-IP adoption – Scalable video distribution across large campuses and multi-floor offices.

Smart AV rooms in 2025 focused on automation, efficiency, and better user experience. But 2026 will go a step further. The emphasis shifts to self-managing, software-driven, and AI-assisted AV ecosystems that require minimal human intervention while delivering consistently high performance.

• Smarter AI-driven AV systems

  AV setups will auto-adjust audio, video, lighting, and layouts based on room size, occupancy, and meeting type—without user intervention.

• Experience-led meeting spaces

  Boardrooms and classrooms will prioritize engagement, not just connectivity, using immersive displays, spatial audio, and real-time collaboration tools.

• Deeper IT & building system integration

  AV will integrate tightly with room booking systems, occupancy sensors, energy management, and smart building platforms.

• More immersive learning & training

  Increased use of AR/VR-assisted AV environments for simulations, skill training, and virtual walkthroughs.

• Data-driven AV decision making

  Usage analytics will help organizations optimize room design, AV investments, and space utilisation.

• Sustainability-focused AV design

  Energy-efficient displays, intelligent power management, and reduced hardware footprints will become key decision factors.

• 2025, the user will manage the technology.

• 2026 expects the technology to manage the meeting.