Editor’s Note: This article is part a CE Pro series examining the forces that shaped the custom-integration channel in 2025. Throughout December, CE Pro will share perspectives from respected industry voices to help integrators close out the year with a clearer view of where the market is heading.
As the smart home and residential technology sectors look back on 2025, it’s clear the industry continued to evolve at a rapid pace. To help interpret the trends, innovations and shifting customer expectations that defined the year, CE Pro spoke with Alex Capecelatro, co-founder and CEO of Josh.ai. His perspective offers an inside look at how AI-driven control, changing user behavior, and emerging platform architectures are influencing the next era of home automation.
CE Pro: How did homeowner expectations or project demands shift in 2025?
Alex Capecelatro: We heard more conversations about AI than ever, but not in the traditional “voice control” sense. Homeowners are asking for smarter systems that configure themselves more easily, anticipate their needs, and feel more intelligent overall. Reliability and simplicity remain table stakes, and we’re seeing core categories continue to lead the way when working with Josh.ai control: lighting, shading, music, video, and environmental control. From our vantage point at Josh.ai, demand has been exceptionally strong this year. I’m not sure the whole market is growing at the same pace, but interest in what we do has accelerated significantly.
CE Pro: Which categories surprised you in terms of growth or slowdown this year?
Capecelatro: Our biggest surprise on the growth side has been the adoption of the Josh Touchscreen. This was the first full year it was available, and dealers embraced the idea of having the Josh interface on a larger, wall mounted display.
On the slowdown side, we’re still seeing hands free voice control in the mix, but it’s shifting. More people are giving voice commands through push to talk products like remotes, touchscreens, and our app. That hybrid model seems to be resonating.
CE Pro: What major product launches or acquisitions had the biggest impact in 2025?
Capecelatro: For us, Josh One was a major milestone, and we’re gearing up for the upcoming launch of Josh Edge in December, which has already created a lot of excitement. But the broader shift might come from our new software platform, AI X OS, which brings AI deeper into home control and dealers are very excited for.
Outside of Josh.ai, it’s still early to judge the industry wide impact, but ADI’s acquisition of Snap will almost certainly influence the channel. On the product front, Ketra’s new offerings stood out as lighting continues to be a fast growing category.
CE Pro: How did AI adoption or workflow automation evolve across the channel?
Capecelatro: We’ve seen strong adoption within the Josh ecosystem, and more companies are beginning to talk openly about how AI fits into their roadmaps. Outside of Josh.ai and beyond a few specific examples, most of the AI usage in the channel seems to come from general purpose tools like ChatGPT, WhisperFlow, and Claude. Dealers and manufacturers are using them behind the scenes for everything from support to content creation.
CE Pro: What trend or technology failed to gain traction despite early interest?
Capecelatro: Spatial audio had a big moment a couple of years ago, but momentum seems to have slowed from what I am seeing. It’s a compelling experience, but it’s hard to scale in a way that makes sense for most homes.
Energy management is another area where the interest is being talked about, but the real world deployment still feels spotty. Some dealers are passionate about it, but we haven’t seeing it landing in many projects yet.
CE Pro: How did collaboration with builders, designers, or architects change this year?
Capecelatro: It improved meaningfully. Part of that is due to increased outreach from companies like ours, Lutron, and even CEDIA. This level of collaboration is critical. The more we’re understood and welcomed by design and build partners, the easier it becomes to deliver great experiences. 2025 felt like a year where those relationships deepened in a real way and I think we’ll see this continue to grow well in 2026.
CE Pro: What lessons from 2025 should the industry carry into 2026?
Capecelatro: AI isn’t a passing trend. Every company in this space should be thinking hard about how AI will shape their products, workflows, and long term strategy. It’s already changing expectations.
Another takeaway is that ultra premium products will always have a place, but they don’t seem to be driving industry wide growth. Solutions that can be deployed in every project will likely have a bigger impact based on what we’ve seen the last couple years. The companies that balance innovation with scalable deployment and repeatability are the ones that will see the broadest adoption in 2026.
