Key Highlights
- The 20th annual CONNECTIONS Summit at CES painted a clear picture of where the smart home is heading: agentic AI is moving from novelty to foundational infrastructure, with platforms competing on how effectively they reduce false alerts, explain system behavior, and automate daily routines — with premium AI features increasingly locked behind subscription tiers.
- Two converging trends are reshaping the security hardware landscape: sensor fusion is turning cameras into proactive "super sensors" that combine radar, environmental, and motion data for richer situational awareness, while Matter interoperability is eliminating the closed-ecosystem silos that have frustrated installers and consumers alike.
- The business model stakes are rising — subscription strategies are shifting toward tiered value clarity, and ultra-low-power edge-AI silicon is enabling always-on, privacy-preserving local processing that reduces cloud dependence, extends battery life, and sets a new baseline for what consumers expect from connected devices.
This article originally appeared in the February 2026 issue of Security Business magazine. Don’t forget to mention Security Business magazine on LinkedIn or our other social handles if you share it.
The 20th annual CONNECTIONS Summit at CES, hosted by Parks Associates, featured panel discussions that examined the most impactful dynamics shaping the connected home, including AI advancements, the shifting home security market, new approaches to home energy management, the expansion of the multifamily market, and more.
Here are the top five takeaways from these dynamic panels:
1. Agentic AI and AI Assistants will Orchestrate the Smart Home
AI is now embedded as a foundational layer across smart home and security platforms – and while AI on devices is primarily limited to cameras, robots, and sensing technologies like smoke/CO and water leak/flow detectors, the software layers that manage the smart home through hubs, AI voice assistants, and smart home apps are ubiquitous.
On devices, AI operates continuously in the background, improves system awareness, and minimizes the need for user intervention. Smart video devices in particular have leveraged AI as a key value-driver, leveraging AI to filter out irrelevant events, summarize activity across the home, and process specific behaviors to differentiate between the benign and the suspicious. At CES, companies highlighted on-device or hybrid AI, which can speed up the process of analyzing data and maximizing privacy.
This shift raises expectations for what constitutes a “smart” system. Traditionally, smart home devices connect with simple or conditional “if/then” automations; however, as AI becomes table stakes, differentiation will depend on how effectively it enhances daily routines. Providers that can demonstrate meaningful reductions in false alerts, improved prioritization of events, and clear explanations of system behavior will be better positioned to build trust and long-term engagement.
At the same time, AI-driven features are increasingly tied to premium service tiers, reinforcing their role in supporting subscription revenue.
This smart home AI expansion was reflected in several CES announcements:
- Amazon Ring introduced “AI Unusual Event Alerts and Active Warnings” that analyze patterns of activity to surface more relevant security notifications. Ring also added a “Fire Watch” feature to detect smoke or fire and share the information with a community watchdog organization called “Watched Duty.”
- TP-Link/Tapo unveiled Aireal, an AI assistant capable of managing devices via natural language and generating summaries of camera footage.
- Reolink showcased the Reolink AI Box, a local AI hub that enables prompt-based video search and on-device processing for older devices.
- SwitchBot highlighted its onero H1 AI household robot, expanding AI use cases beyond security into daily task automation.
2. Interoperability Support and Multi-Protocol Hubs Will Eliminate Silos
Interoperability emerged as a clear expectation at CES 2026, and manufacturers demonstrated expanded Matter support across locks, sensors, lighting, cameras, and thermostats, focusing on simplified onboarding and cross-brand automation.
During a CONNECTIONS Summit panel, Paulus Schoutsen of the Open Home Foundation noted that interoperability also increases the longevity of the smart home. Companies that end support for hardware or fail will not lock consumers out of their smart home tech.
This evolution creates a tension between ecosystem control and market reach. Closed systems risk limiting adoption as consumers increasingly expect flexibility and choice. Open systems must still deliver cohesive user experiences while still maintaining their platforms with core features that may not be adopted by large tech platforms such as Google Home or Amazon Alexa.
For smart home brands looking to keep some customers entirely within their ecosystem of devices, adding specific features that are maintained behind subscriptions may help, as well as expanding device portfolios.
The focus on Matter interoperability in particular was reflected in several CES announcements:
- Aqara introduced the Smart Lock U400, a Matter-over-Thread lock supporting Apple Home Key. The company also previewed a Matter 1.5-compliant security camera and enhanced presence sensors.
- IKEA expanded its Matter-compatible portfolio with the updated Varmblixt lamp.
- Lighting brand LIFX announced the LIFX SuperColor smart mirror with Matter-over-Wi-Fi support and a lower-cost Matter smart dimmer switch.
- Eve Systems launched its first Matter-enabled smart thermostat.
3. Sensor Fusion Reshapes Security and Automation
Smart home and security manufacturers are increasingly combining multiple sensing modalities to deliver richer, more accurate contextual understanding of home environments. Sensing that provides context involves aggregating data from cameras, radar, motion detectors, environmental sensors, and other inputs to reduce false alarms, detect unauthorized presence, and inform intelligent automation.
Cameras, which were once siloed in the past, are now able to combine many sensing features. “Cameras are the new ‘super sensor,’” explained Kevin Woodworth of Johnson Controls, during a CONNECTIONS Summit panel. “We used to think of the camera as a reactive approach that involved looking at footage after the fact. Now, they are more proactive ‘sensors.’”
Rather than relying solely on a single input like PIR motion or a camera trigger, multi-sensor systems can differentiate between a family member moving through a room, a pet wandering about, or a legitimate security event. This enhanced situational awareness not only strengthens security detection but also supports better automation of other smart home functions.
Here are a few CES product announcements that support this takeaway:
- Amazon Ring unveiled a new lineup of “Ring Sensors” capable of detecting motion, door/window contact, glass breakage, smoke, carbon monoxide, flooding, temperature changes, air quality, and more.
- Aqara’s new FP400 Spatial Presence Sensor combines mmWave radar with multi-zone spatial sensing to detect not just motion, but where a person is in a room, their posture (standing vs. sitting), etc.
- ThirdReality’s Smart Presence Sensor R3 combines mmWave presence detection with ambient light and VOC (volatile organic compound) sensing, offering multi-modality awareness that can inform both safety and comfort automations.
4. Subscription Strategies Focus on Value Clarity and Tiered Experiences
Subscriptions remained central to smart home and security business models at CES 2026. Rather than bundling all features into a single plan, companies highlighted tiered offerings tied to specific benefits, such as advanced AI analytics, extended video history, or professional monitoring.
Companies serving the residential market must watch for increasing consumer scrutiny of recurring costs. Subscription success will depend on delivering visible, ongoing value and clearly communicating what users gain at each tier. Flexible pricing structures also allow providers to address diverse household needs, from basic monitoring to AI services and monitoring. Companies that align pricing with perceived value will be better positioned to sustain recurring revenue growth.
5. The Rise of Ultra-low-power Connectivity and Edge-AI Silicon
As smart homes scale in both complexity and always-on expectations, ultra-low-power radios and energy-efficient silicon will power devices without frequent battery changes.
Protocols such as Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) enable devices that stay connected longer with minimal energy consumption. At the same time, silicon manufacturers are advancing SoCs (such as Neural Processing Units, or NPUs) targeted at low-power edge-AI workloads, allowing devices to perform meaningful inference and contextual analysis locally rather than relying solely on cloud processing.
Lower-power connectivity and edge-AI silicon offer fundamental advantages for the always-on home. They extend battery life, improve privacy by reducing data sent to the cloud, and support resilient mesh networks that remain operational even when Wi-Fi is unavailable. These innovations align with consumer desires for simple, reliable systems that “just work” and don’t demand constant charging or complex hub setups.
About the Author
Daniel Holcomb
Daniel Holcomb is Senior Analyst for Parks Associates, which covers the security and smart home market extensively within its research practice. The company will host the 20th annual CONNECTIONS SUMMIT at CES Jan. 7, 2026, and the 30th annual CONNECTIONS, The Premier Connected Home Conference, on May 5-7 in Santa Clara, Calif. Visit www.parksassociates.com to learn more.