Industry Influencer Q&A: How AI Will Completely Change the Security Experience with Vicon's Haim Shain
Haim Shain is Senior Vice President of Product at Vicon Industries, where he leads the development of next-generation security technologies. A recognized thought leader in surveillance and smart infrastructure, he holds multiple patents in access control, camera systems, and machine learning. He has driven innovation across both startup and enterprise environments, with a track record of shaping smart cities, intelligent buildings, and the future of physical security.
In this exclusive Industry Influencer Q&A sponsored by Vicon, Mr. Shain delves deeper into the hottest technology trend shaping the video surveillance industry: the rise of AI solutions and how they will revolutionize the entire security experience.
How is the role of video analytics changing in today’s security landscape?
Shain: For decades, video analytics operated on a simple idea: define a rule, then watch for anything that breaks it. You draw a line and set a schedule, and if someone crosses that line, the system sends an alert. That approach made sense when security was all about keeping things out. But that logic doesn't hold up in the kinds of spaces we work in now. Today’s environments are open, complex, and full of trusted individuals, such as employees, vendors, and students; yet most systems still treat everyone like a potential threat until proven otherwise. That leads to friction, alert fatigue, and lost time.
The future we’re heading toward is more adaptive. I see AI shifting the role of video analytics from mechanical rule enforcement to intelligent scene interpretation. Instead of simply reacting to activity, analytics can now recognize patterns, learn behaviors, and understand context. The goal is a system that evolves in harmony with its environment, rather than one that constantly requires reprogramming. It opens the door to security systems that are not only smarter but far more human.
What do you mean by “understanding context”? Can you give a real-world example?
Context means moving beyond surface-level detection. Traditional systems can tell you that a person entered a zone. Still, they can’t tell you whether that person should be there, or if they have been there before...whether their behavior fits a familiar pattern, or whether this moment stands out from a broader historical baseline.
Let’s take a real-life scenario I face daily. Currently, school pickup can be a 30- to 40-minute ordeal — a parent pulls into the lot, someone checks their ID, radios inside, staff locate the kids, and only then are they released. Why? Because the system doesn’t know who the parent is until they’re already at the curb. Now, imagine a smarter system. As soon as the car enters the campus, the license plate is recognized, facial authentication confirms the parent’s identity, the system adds the parent to a digital pickup queue, and the kids are automatically notified. The whole interaction could take 10 minutes or less. That’s what context enables. You’re not just reacting to a trigger—you’re understanding the entire situation.
What’s powerful here is that AI could begin to build this level of intelligence over time. It might recognize that a person entering a space late at night doesn’t match their historical routine. Or that someone is staying longer than they usually would. These aren’t fixed rules — they’re behavioral patterns. And that’s the kind of context that turns a surveillance system into a situational awareness engine.
Does this help reduce false alarms and friction for people who do belong?
That’s one of the most compelling parts of where AI could take us. Right now, even the most trusted people — employees who show up at the same time every day — still have to badge-in repeatedly, wait for doors to open, and prove who they are over and over. It’s a system built on mistrust, even when trust is earned.
The hard truth is we punish the people who do belong for the sake of keeping the unknown out. And we do it daily. The friction is constant, the experience is poor, and the result is inefficiency that compounds across every part of the organization. We're working toward a model where the system automatically learns to recognize trusted individuals, not just by face, but also by their behavior, the time of entry, and typical movements. Over time, the system could become confident in who someone is, without relying on constant manual validation.
Think about the TSA experience. It's security, yes, but also a ritual of friction. Shoes off, laptops out, pat-downs, long lines. It's based on a logic of total suspicion. Perhaps that makes sense for aviation, but it doesn’t scale well in offices, schools, or hospitals. The idea is to replace that friction with intelligence. If the system recognizes you and understands your behavior, it can step aside and let you through without slowing everything down.
What impact does this have beyond traditional “security”?
Once a system begins to understand what’s normal, the possibilities really open up. You’re no longer just stopping threats. You’re spotting inefficiencies, anomalies, and operational gaps that would otherwise go unnoticed.
Imagine a camera that catches someone entering a cleanroom without following protocol, or one that detects a forklift breaking safety rules, such as skipping warning lights or encroaching on pedestrian walkways. These aren’t traditional “security events,” but they have profound implications for safety, compliance, and day-to-day operations.
What’s exciting is the idea that you won’t even need to write rules for all these situations. As AI matures, it can learn what’s typical, then flag what isn’t. It becomes less about scripting every edge case and more about letting the system uncover what breaks from the pattern. This is where the future truly begins to take shape. Your security infrastructure has become a source of business intelligence. Video feeds won’t just tell you what happened. They’ll help you understand why it happened — and how to fix it. That’s a huge leap, and it’s one we’re steadily building toward.
What’s the bigger vision here? Where is all this headed?
The significant shift is from surveillance to awareness. It’s not just about keeping eyes on a scene. It’s about understanding what’s happening in that scene, in context, over time. The vision is a world where systems adapt, where you don’t need rigid checkpoints or constant validation. Where security doesn’t mean treating everyone like a suspect, but instead focuses attention where it’s actually required.
A delivery that’s on time and at the correct loading dock shouldn’t require manual approval. A badge reader shouldn’t hold up an employee on their regular shift. When the system understands the people and the environment, it can help rather than hinder. And when that happens, the value multiplies. People move more freely. Teams operate with more confidence. Risks are caught earlier, and effort is spent where it matters. That’s where things are going, and it’s a smarter, more scalable way to think about safety, operations, and trust.
Learn more about Vicon Industries at https://vicon-security.com
