Jeff Hayward

Artificial Intelligence is transforming both the way integrators work and the technologies they deploy in homes. But with innovation comes responsibility. This session explores the ethical and practical challenges integrators now face. Rich Green will examine key issues, such as, copyright infringement, privacy, data security, and the implications of always-on cameras and microphones. How do you protect client data from misuse or hacking? What guardrails should be in place to prevent unintended actions by autonomous systems? And where does liability fall when AI makes a mistake? Attendees will gain actionable insights into best practices for ethical practice and integration, including system design considerations and risk mitigation strategies. This session will help you navigate the intersection of AI and ethics, empowering you to lead responsibly in the age of intelligent homes.

Cameras have quietly become one of the most powerful—and most scrutinized—devices in the connected home. As AI-driven detection improves, so do concerns about where video data is processed, stored, and accessed. Edge AI is changing that equation by keeping analysis local, enabling faster response times and more intelligent automation without defaulting to the cloud. For integrators, this opens up new possibilities around occupancy awareness, perimeter detection, and system-wide triggers—but also raises important design decisions around network architecture, data handling, and client trust.

This training will cut through the noise to focus on current capabilities, where edge processing delivers measurable advantages, and where cloud-based systems still play a role. Drawing on perspectives from both the control layer and camera manufacturers, the discussion will center on real-world deployments, design tradeoffs, and how these systems perform in the field.

Lighting and shading are quickly becoming one of the most powerful opportunities for integrators to expand their influence in residential projects. Together, these systems allow professionals to shape how a space feels and functions by balancing daylight, electric light, and automation to maintain consistent comfort and atmosphere throughout the day. This session will explore how leading firms are positioning lighting and shading as a unified design and technology discipline—coordinating fixtures, controls, and motorized shades to manage glare, preserve views, enhance aesthetics, and support daily routines. Attendees will also examine the business implications of this shift, including how integrators can enter projects earlier in the design process, collaborate more effectively with architects and designers, and build a profitable practice around solutions that go far beyond basic lighting control.

Most residential lighting systems today are assembled from multiple ecosystems—architectural fixtures, decorative lighting, landscape systems, retrofit products, and control platforms that were never designed to work together seamlessly. This session examines how integrators can successfully deploy mixed-vendor lighting systems without sacrificing performance, serviceability, or client experience. Topics will include managing dimming compatibility across phase, 0-10V, and digital control methods; maintaining consistent color and fixture behavior across manufacturers; integrating architectural lighting with control platforms and shading systems; and identifying failure points that lead to flicker, mismatched color, or unpredictable scene performance. Attendees will gain practical strategies for evaluating interoperability before the project begins, building lighting packages that behave consistently in the field, and avoiding the hidden technical pitfalls that often appear when multiple manufacturers share the same lighting design.