InfoComm 2026 made one thing very clear: the collaboration industry is entering its next phase.
For years, the conversation centered on devices, room standards, and the shift to hybrid work. Those topics still matter, but this year the dialogue moved well beyond the room itself. Across the show floor, in customer meetings, and during our session with Cisco in the Partner Lounge, the message was consistent: the future of collaboration is no longer just about connecting people. It is about creating intelligent, managed digital experiences that improve employee engagement, simplify operations, and deliver measurable business outcomes.
That was the focus of the NWN + Cisco session at the Cisco Partner Lounge on June 18, where we explored how AI, intelligent devices, and operational analytics are transforming collaboration spaces into fully managed environments. It was an energizing conversation and a strong reflection of where the market is headed. Cisco’s InfoComm program also reinforced this broader direction, with a major emphasis on AI-powered workspaces, operational analytics, AV-over-IP simplification, and connected workplace intelligence.
Three themes stood out at InfoComm 2026
- Collaboration is shifting from “room technology” to “workplace intelligence”
The market is moving beyond point products and isolated room deployments. Customers are asking bigger questions:
- Which spaces are actually being used?
- Where are employees having poor meeting experiences?
- Which devices or rooms are creating the most support burden?
- How can IT proactively resolve issues before users open tickets?
- How do we justify ongoing workplace investment with hard data?
That is a very different conversation than “What camera should I buy?” or “Which panel goes in the room?” It is a conversation about data, visibility, utilization, and experience management.
At InfoComm, it was clear that the most forward-looking manufacturers and solution providers are aligning around this model. Devices are no longer just endpoints; they are data-generating assets inside a broader digital workplace ecosystem. The value comes from what organizations can do with that data—improving uptime, understanding adoption, planning investments, and delivering a better employee experience.
- AI in collaboration is becoming practical, not theoretical
AI was everywhere at InfoComm, but the most compelling discussions were not about hype. They were about practical outcomes.
We saw a growing focus on AI capabilities that directly improve the day-to-day workplace experience, including:
- Intelligent camera framing and speaker tracking
- Meeting summaries, transcription, and action capture
- Workspace analytics and room utilization insights
- Automated issue detection and proactive alerting
- Operational recommendations tied to room health and performance
The key shift is that AI is no longer being positioned as a novelty feature layered on top of collaboration. It is becoming part of the operating model, helping organizations run their environments more effectively and helping end users have better, more seamless meeting experiences.
For NWN, that aligns directly with where we are taking the market: leveraging AI not just inside the meeting, but across the entire lifecycle of the collaboration experience. From support and monitoring to analytics, automation, and end-user assistance.
- Managed services and operational analytics are becoming the real differentiator
This may have been the most important takeaway of the week.
Customers are still buying devices. They are still refreshing rooms. They are still standardizing platforms. But increasingly, those purchases are only the starting point. The real opportunity and the real customer need are what happens after deployment.
That means:
- Ongoing monitoring and visibility
- Proactive support
- Room and device health analytics
- Usage and adoption reporting
- Capacity planning and lifecycle guidance
- Integration between collaboration tools, service operations, and workplace platforms
- Self-healing visual collaboration systems
In other words, the conversation is moving from “What did we install?” to “How do we operate, optimize, and continuously improve it?”
That is exactly why NWN continues to invest in the next generation of Visual Collaboration managed services. Our strategy is centered on combining intelligent collaboration devices with managed services, analytics, and AI-enabled operational workflows so customers can move beyond reactive support and into a more proactive, data-driven model.
Why the Cisco + NWN conversation mattered
One of the highlights of the week for me was the opportunity to represent NWN in the Cisco Partner Lounge and discuss this evolution alongside one of our most strategic partners. Cisco’s InfoComm presence strongly emphasized AI-powered collaboration devices, workspace management, Control Hub visibility, AV-over-IP simplification, and connected workplace experiences.
Our joint message was simple:
The future of collaboration is not just about intelligent devices. It is intelligent devices + operational data + managed services + AI-driven support.
That combination creates a much stronger customer outcome:
- Better employee experiences in the room
- Greater visibility for IT teams
- Faster issue resolution
- More informed workplace planning
- A clearer path to ROI on collaboration investments
NWN is uniquely positioned to help customers connect those dots. We understand the room, the infrastructure, the support model, and the operational layer required to make collaboration environments perform at scale.
What this means for customers right now
If I had to summarize the most important takeaway from InfoComm 2026 for customers, it would be this:
The conversation should no longer start with hardware. It should start with the experience you want to deliver and the operating model required to support it.
That means asking:
- How do we improve the meeting experience for employees?
- How do we reduce friction and support tickets?
- How do we gain visibility into room performance and utilization?
- How do we use analytics to drive future investment decisions?
- How do we make collaboration environments easier to support and more resilient over time?
The organizations that answer those questions well will get far more value out of their workplace technology investments than those that simply refresh endpoints and move on.
Final thoughts
InfoComm 2026 reinforced what we at NWN have believed for some time: collaboration is evolving into a broader workplace experience and operational analytics conversation. The market is moving toward intelligent, connected, measurable environments and customers are looking for partners who can help them navigate that transition.
That is where NWN is focused.
We are excited about the direction of the industry, the momentum with partners like Cisco, and the opportunity ahead to help customers modernize not just their meeting rooms, but the full digital experience that surrounds them.
If InfoComm 2026 proved anything, it is this:
The next generation of collaboration will be defined by intelligence, automation, visibility, and service, not just devices.
And that is exactly where NWN intends to lead.
