AV integrators are buying scale because meeting rooms now run like software
Forté’s acquisition of Vega Global, adding more than 750 employees across 17 APAC countries, is a prominent 2026 sign of consolidation in enterprise AV, according to AV Magazine. At InfoComm 2026, Cisco, Crestron and HP showed room platforms centered on ongoing management, with Cisco and NVIDIA introducing RoomOS 26 AI agents that run on in-room hardware and HP tying Poly Lens to its Workforce Experience Platform, as reported by AVIXA and HP. Separately, Cisco’s Webex AI roadmap adds “agentic” automation and governance that reaches beyond room systems into the contact center and workforce management, according to No Jitter. As a result, standards, telemetry, security and service-level performance are taking a larger role in how contracts are evaluated, influencing both vendor choice and integrator consolidation.
- 01When services are 38% of channel revenue and hardware is 36%, the integrator RFP stops being about the bill of materials and starts being about uptime, monitoring and lifecycle outcomes, per AV Magazine citing AVIXA channel research.
- 02“Edge AI in the room” shifts how outages and performance issues play out: RoomOS 26 adds on-device agents and features such as Audio Zones that can lessen reliance on cloud connectivity, but it also increases requirements for endpoint compute, device governance and disciplined update processes, according to AVIXA and rAVe [PUBS].
- 03Consolidation is becoming a procurement feature: Forté’s move from a federation model to owned operations signals multinationals want one throat to choke for standards, security and service outcomes across regions, per AV Magazine.
Sep 1, 2026
