As we move into 2026, the internet of things (IoT) is entering a new era—one defined not by experimentation, but by expectation. IoT is no longer a collection of interesting pilots or scattered smart devices. It has become the backbone of enterprise modernization, the fuel for AI-driven operations and a strategic lever for global competitiveness. Connectivity, intelligence and security are converging at unprecedented speed, reshaping how organizations design infrastructure, deliver services and monetize data.
We asked the GTIA IoT Advisory Council to make some predictions. Their insights point to a transformative year ahead, where the winners will be those who adapt quickly, think strategically and embrace the massive opportunities unfolding at the intersection of physical and digital worlds.
A Foundational Shift
“Looking ahead to 2026, the internet of things is moving past the experimental phase and firmly into mandatory, revenue-generating enterprise strategy. The conversation is no longer about if devices will be connected, but how they will be governed, monetized and secured. That governance is the key to enterprise growth.”
– Ted Parisot, co-founder, Helios Visions
Shift from Connecting Devices to Monetizing Intelligence
“In 2026, the conversation for ITSPs will shift from ‘connecting devices’ to ‘monetizing intelligence.’ We will see a massive wave of IoT endpoints equipped with Neural Processing Units (NPUs) capable of local decision-making. For MSPs, this means the end of simple "ping and monitor" revenue models. The new value proposition will be deploying ‘agentic IoT,’ devices that don't just report a fault but autonomously schedule their own maintenance or adjust workflows. Service providers must prepare to sell business outcomes (e.g., guaranteed uptime) rather than connectivity.”
– Sean Burke, CEO, Channelstars
Digital Currency Adoption Enhances Security, Lowers Transaction Costs
“I expect to see the initial adoption(s) of Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs), the digital form of a country's fiat currency regulated by its central bank. CBDCs promise enhanced security, improved efficiency, lower transaction costs and greater control over the money supply. For ITSPs, this shift presents exciting opportunities: As CBDCs become mainstream, demand will grow for innovative solutions such as digital wallets, omnichannel payment platforms and upgrades to backend systems and point-of-sale hardware. The rise of CBDCs will fuel new business models and drive transformative change across the IT services landscape.”
– Scott Paquette, account director, Giesecke+Devrient
Infrastructure Visibility Initiatives Will Enhance AI Models
“As AI adoption accelerates, businesses will realize that their AI models need more data from their operational infrastructure that what they are currently getting. Enterprises are filled with disconnected devices and assets that contain the additional operational information. CIOs and COOs will prioritize infrastructure visibility and enterprises will rush to eliminate “dark assets”, the legacy, remote and proprietary systems that still sit disconnected from modern IoT and AI platforms. In 2026, connecting the unconnected will be a key initiative in the IoT services ecosystem to feed data-hungry AI-enabled operations.”
- Benson Chan, senior partner, Strategy of Things
Intelligence and Connectivity
“The technical engine of 2026 is the convergence of AI and the network. AI is becoming agentic at the edge: Autonomous systems will not only deploy real-time actions but also generate their own predictive maintenance code. This is powered by The network-as-a-platform shift, where mass deployments of Wi-Fi 7 and private 5G create the guaranteed, low-latency fabric that makes edge-native architecture the default standard for all new industrial IoT deployments.”
– Ted Parisot, co-founder, Helios Visions
Spotlight Shines on Security-by-Design
“With the enforcement of strict cyber-resilience mandates like the EU Cyber Resilience Act and similar U.S. frameworks hitting full stride in 2026, security-by-design will move from a "nice-to-have" to a hard market gatekeeper. Distributors will likely delist legacy IoT products that lack automated SBOM (Software Bill of Materials) management and immutable root-of-trust capabilities. Vendors who cannot prove continuous, automated firmware compliance will find themselves locked out of enterprise supply chains, forcing a rapid consolidation of the IoT hardware market toward "trust-verified" vendors.”
– Sean Burke, CEO, Channelstars
Modernization of Connectivity Brings Significant Opportunities
“As organizations scramble to feed AI models with complete sets of operational data, systems integrators (SIs) will step into a new high-value role and opportunity in 2026: Bridging old and new, securing remote assets, and delivering infrastructure management as a recurring service. Connectivity modernization becomes the fastest-growing line of business in the IoT services ecosystem.”
- Benson Chan, senior partner, Strategy of Things
Compliance and the OpEx Model
“The first critical shift is the arrival of new mandates like the Cyber Resilience Act (EU) will make lifecycle security and detailed SBOMs a mandatory, high-margin service category. This complexity accelerates the trend toward OpEx models like device-as-a-service (DaaS), transforming CapEx-heavy operations—such as automated drone-as-a-service inspection fleets, into predictable, high-reliability managed revenue streams for the channel.”
– Ted Parisot, co-founder, Helios Visions
Video Will Replace Other IoT Sensors
“The era of deploying thousands of single-purpose sensors (temperature, humidity, motion) is giving way to vision-based sensing. In 2026, we expect a surge in "vision-as-a-service" where a single smart camera running multi-modal AI models replaces dozens of discrete sensors. For vendors and integrators, this simplifies installation but complicates data management. The winner in 2026 will be the integrator who can offer "visual telemetry"—converting video data into lightweight text metadata at the edge—so customers get the insights without crushing their bandwidth budgets.”
– Sean Burke, CEO, Channelstars
SGP.32 Democratizes Global Connectivity
“2026 will be the tipping point where the GSMA’s SGP.32 standard (Remote SIM Provisioning for IoT) enters full production. SGP.32 decouples the profile manager from the carrier. This standard allows for production of one hardware variant globally that pulls a local carrier profile upon activation. For ITSPs, this is a business model shift: You are no longer just reselling airtime for one carrier. You become a ‘connectivity broker,’ capable of dynamically switching client fleets to the most cost-effective local network without a truck roll.”
– Sean Burke, CEO, Channelstars
Strategic Value and the Channel's New Role
“Finally, the focus is squarely on strategic value. We predict that Digital Twin projects will scale due to procurement mandates for Asset Administration Shell (AAS) compliance, and that IoT data monetization will become a C-Suite priority. The channel must evolve from integrator to orchestrator, prepared to build the data marketplaces and implement the security services that unlock this new, massive value chain.”
– Ted Parisot, co-founder, Helios Visions
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