From video surveillance to vision intelligence: How to get more value from your video in the age of AI

By Chris Wolski , VP of Product Marketing at Solink

Security cameras are the most powerful sensor in your business. They capture an incredible amount of information that can be used to improve safety, security, and reduce shrink, but also to improve operations and profitability. 

Yet for most organizations, this resource remains largely untapped. Novaira Insights projects that in 2025, only 2.9% of professional security cameras in the US will be cloud connected. And of all the video those cameras record, Solink estimates that less than 0.1% is ever viewed, let alone analyzed. 

That means you’re likely sitting on a goldmine of insights that could advance your business. 

For decades, cameras have been used almost exclusively in security silos, to respond to incidents after the fact. Something bad happens (a break-in, a slip and fall, a violent crime) and a security or asset protection leader wants to go back and pull the video to understand and report on what happened. 

But things are changing quickly. The number of cloud-connected cameras in the US is growing at CAGR 28%. Pairing video with business data is becoming far easier through cloud video management systems (VMS). Video language models and other AI capabilities are advancing at unprecedented speed. Together, these shifts are transforming cameras from passive recorders into active, intelligent systems that can detect, alert, and deliver insights in real-time – benefiting every department from HR and health and safety to store operations, sales, marketing, and more. 

At Solink, we call this “vision-enabled security and operations” – a fundamental shift in how businesses protect assets, empower teams, and drive performance by tapping into the full potential of their video through the cloud, integrated video + data, and artificial intelligence (AI).

The opportunity: Businesses are sitting on a goldmine of data, but they can’t access it

Think about the number of cameras across your organization. Every one of them is capturing rich, visual context - store traffic, employee activity, delivery issues, safety compliance, customer behavior, and so much more. 

Every day, businesses collect thousands of hours of video. Yet the truth is, without the right tools, all of that context sits dormant, collecting dust on a server. Unwatched. Unused. Only pulled up when something goes wrong. 

This means your organization is essentially running blind to its own environment, relying on gut feel when it could be driven by visual truth. Security teams are overburdened, operations are reactive, and leadership lacks the visibility they need to optimize performance across multiple locations. 

Advances in AI, however, are enabling organizations to extract more value from their video, with less manual work. Today, businesses can automate the review of thousands of hours of video footage, uncovering actionable insights that were previously hidden in the noise.

AI agents can be set to the task of monitoring video inputs, continuously scanning for anomalies or pre-defined incidents, and escalating potential threats to human operators in real time. 

Generative AI takes this a step further, allowing businesses to interact with video data in natural language. Questions like “Did the store open on time?” or “Are the tables clean?” can be answered with precision, providing managers with real-time insights without manual intervention.

Recent statistics have found that the global market for AI video analytics is projected to grow from $5 billion in 2025 to over $17 billion by 2030, a sign that businesses are finally starting to tap into this underutilized asset. 

The reality is this: video is the richest data source businesses already own, but, right now, the least utilized. This is set to change rapidly.

The definition: From passive cameras to vision intelligence

Vision intelligence is the ability to observe, analyze, and respond to what’s happening in your business by combining video with business data for richer context.  

Today, we can extract actionable insights from video automatically and in real time. Need to know how many customers walked in but didn’t buy? Wondering if tables were cleaned before the lunch rush? Want to track which displays attract attention? 

With modern video analytics and AI, these aren’t future capabilities - they’re here, now.

Companies that adopt them are already seeing measurable returns. One national retailer increased sales by 20% in underperforming aisles after three months of implementing video-based heat mapping and customer behavior analysis.

Today’s most forward-thinking organizations are using vision intelligence to:

• Understand conversion rates by pairing traffic data with POS systems.
• Optimize store layouts and staffing based on heatmaps and dwell time.
• Detect slips, trips, and falls before they become costly claims.
• Monitor operations across warehouses, retail floors, and parking lots, all from a centralized dashboard.
• Ensure compliance with safety regulations and brand standards across multiple locations.

The reality is there are thousands of use cases for intelligent video - from discount fraud to fall monitoring - and each one represents a moment where video becomes more than security. It becomes operational foresight.

The roadblocks: What’s holding organizations back?

Despite the opportunity, most businesses are still operating with outdated systems and struggling to leverage AI with their video. Four key challenges include:

• Legacy camera infrastructures and budget constraints to replace them.
• Sky-high storage costs and bandwidth issues.
• Closed platforms that limit integration and flexibility.
• Misalignment and lack of collaboration between security and business teams.

The result? Fragmented insights, missed opportunities, and budget spend that doesn’t deliver ROI across your business.

It’s no surprise then that while 78% of companies now use AI in at least one business function, video often lags behind - held back by legacy systems, siloed data, and proprietary platforms.

But here’s the good news: you don’t need to rip and replace to make progress. Most organizations can modernize their video systems without replacing their existing cameras.

So, how do you unlock vision intelligence for your business?

Recognizing the untapped value of video is just the beginning. The real opportunity lies in turning those insights into outcomes, faster, smarter, and more consistently than your competitors.

But let’s be clear: this doesn’t mean overhauling your entire infrastructure or starting from zero. In fact, the most strategic organizations are building on what they already have - making smart upgrades, choosing flexible partners, and removing silos between departments.

In 2025, the winners won’t be the ones who installed the most cameras. It’ll be the ones who used their cameras the most intelligently.

So, how do you unlock vision intelligence for your business? Here’s the path forward for organizations ready to turn video into a strategic asset:

1. Make your cameras smarter: Use a cloud-based, AI-enabled video platform that works with any camera, not just proprietary ones. Hardware-agnostic systems unlock immediate value without massive capital costs.

2. Balance edge and cloud: Process video at the edge for speed and cost-efficiency, while using the cloud for centralized management and deep AI insights across all your locations.

3. Choose open ecosystems: Avoid vendor lock-in. Choose platforms with open APIs that integrate with POS, access control, and other critical business tools. This ensures long-term flexibility, greater access to data, and future-proofing.

4. Empower more teams: Vision intelligence isn’t just for security. Operations, compliance, marketing, HR, and finance can all benefit, if they have access. Use role-based permissions and intuitive dashboards to democratize insights.

5. Partner for progress: Look beyond tech specs. Your partner should be growing fast, investing in R&D, listening to your goals, and evolving with you. Ask:

• Are they innovating at speed?
• Do they reflect your goals in early conversations?
• Are their customers staying and thriving?

Vision intelligence is the next frontier of physical security: Are you ready?

The companies that win in the next decade won’t just watch video, they’ll use it to see clearly across their entire organization.

Vision intelligence is not just an upgrade to security. It’s a transformation in how businesses operate, make decisions, and stay ahead of the curve. In a world where data is everywhere, video is the richest, most untapped source we’ve got, and it’s time we used it.

To recap:

• Businesses are underutilizing their video data, limiting it to security-only use cases.
• The market is shifting fast: those who adopt AI and video analytics early are already seeing measurable gains.
• You don’t need new cameras, you need a smarter platform that gives you visibility into what you already have.
• Vision intelligence empowers every department to improve ROI through data-driven insights.

Let’s stop thinking of cameras as silent observers. Let’s start treating them as intelligent teammates.

If you're curious how vision intelligence can drive ROI across your business - not just security - let's talk.

Book a demo with Solink or connect with us here on LinkedIn.