Top 5 trends for the AIoT industry in 2025

HANGZHOU, China, Jan. 22, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- In recent years, Hikvision has explored the evolving trends in the security landscape. As technology has advanced, the focus has broadened from merely securing our world—to making it smarter. AIoT (AI-powered Internet of Things) is leading this transformation, revolutionizing industries beyond security. This year, Hikvision dives deeper into the trends driving AIoT, showing how they are reshaping industries and fostering a more efficient, secure, and sustainable future.

1. Perception technologies are adapting to varied environments and situational needs

Perception technologies are continuing to evolve to operate efficiently in diverse conditions. AI Image Signal Processing (AI-ISP) technology, for example, has already set a high bar on image quality performance in low-light conditions by significantly reducing image noise and addressing motion blur.

Beyond the visible light spectrum, millimeter-wave radars see through smoke, dust, and obstacles, providing precise speed and direction measurements widely used in traffic management. In noisy, harsh industrial settings with continuous operations, meanwhile, sound wave sensing enables non-invasive equipment monitoring for early fault detection, reducing downtime.

2. AIoT is bringing digitalization to life in diverse industrial applications

Companies are increasingly adopting AIoT technologies to address specific operational challenges and speed up digital transformation. In retail, where loss prevention and maintaining a competitive edge is crucial, AIoT devices now provide valuable data such as inventory tracking, foot traffic, queue lengths, and area density. In the energy sector, meanwhile, safety is a non-negotiable requirement. AIoT solutions, such as automated personal protective equipment (PPE) checks, now use AI to streamline the inspection of proper safety gears, reducing manual oversight and enhancing workplace safety.

Furthermore, the development of large vision, audio, and fiber-optic models is being tailored with industry-specific designs, algorithm optimization, and model simplification. This trend aims to create lightweight, vertical-specific AIoT deployments that are practical and effective in real-world scenarios.

3. There is a significant move towards open and collaborative ecosystems

As the demand for tailored AIoT solutions in fragmented industrial scenarios has increased, no single company can meet all the user demands on their own. Open platforms and tools are therefore becoming essential. These enable solution providers to seamlessly integrate third-party applications in order to accelerate digital transformation across industries.

This collaborative environment helps developers and integrators create flexible and effective AIoT solutions. Simple to use AI training platforms are now becoming widely available, which allow non-specialist systems integrators to train and deploy their own custom AI models.

4. Building cybersecurity trust through proactive strategies and cross-industry partnerships

Cybersecurity remains a critical concern in the expanding AIoT landscape. Increasingly, companies are adopting proactive, yet responsive, cybersecurity approaches, which focus on rapid threat detection and effective response.

Again, close collaboration is key to this trend, with installers, system integrators, and customers all working together to ensure secure deployment and use, leading to a more resilient and trusted operational framework.

5. AIoT becoming a game-changing catalyst for sustainability

Organizations worldwide are seeking more sustainable ways to operate and conduct business, and many are turning to AIoT technologies to do this. By augmenting connected sensors with AI algorithms, AIoT is helping to optimize resource use, cut energy consumption, improve waste management, and boost operational efficiency in numerous industries.

In building management, for example, AIoT systems are being used to automatically adjust energy use based on occupancy and weather conditions, leading to significant cost savings and lower carbon emissions.

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To discover more about Hikvision's insights and the latest trends in AIoT, please visit Hikvision Blog.