The digital signage industry just hit an inflection point, and most companies don’t realize it yet.
At last week’s Digital Signage Summit Europe in Munich, a startling statistic caught my attention: while 85% of professionals are using AI in their daily work, only 50% of companies are leveraging AI professionally in digital signage.
This large digital signage AI disconnect represents the biggest transformation opportunity our industry has seen in a decade.
Having spent three days with industry leaders, technology providers and innovators from across Europe, I’m seeing patterns that will fundamentally reshape how organizations communicate. As CEO of Skykit, working daily with organizations from Fortune 500 manufacturers to regional healthcare systems, I attended not just to understand where our industry is heading – but to identify which trends will separate tomorrow’s leaders from those left behind.
The insights were eye-opening, and they’re already changing how I think about our roadmap. Here’s what every digital signage decision-maker needs to know.
AI: Your Creative Accelerator, Not Your Replacement
The most interesting conversations weren’t about AI replacing jobs. They were about AI amplifying human potential. The keynote speaker made a point that stuck with me: true AI transformation requires 10x to 100x improvement to be genuinely transformational, not just incremental gains.
I'm seeing this play out in three key areas:
Content Creation
Designers are becoming creative directors. AI handles the heavy lifting of asset generation, while humans focus on storytelling, brand alignment and cultural nuance.
Development and Support
Leading platforms are hitting 60% first-line resolution rates through AI support. But here's what's interesting - developers aren't being replaced. They're evolving into architects and orchestrators, designing systems rather than coding every detail.
Operations
The efficiency numbers are real. Multiple industry leaders shared that one person can now handle internal communications that previously required a larger team.
At the industry level, we’re seeing similar patterns with dashboard connections and real-time data visualization features. AI helps automate data visualization and reduces the complexity of managing live business intelligence displays, but users still need human insight to determine which metrics matter most.
The $4.9 Million Security Wake-Up Call
The most sobering session focused on security, and the numbers should worry every CEO. The average security incident now costs $4.9 million, with 200 days to identify intrusions and another 70 days to fix them. That doesn’t include stolen intellectual property, reputation damage or lost customers.
This hits close to home because security is exactly what connects many customers to Skykit. One example is the University of Georgia: they needed to deploy digital signage across 800+ locations on campus, from dining halls to administrative buildings. Their IT team wasn’t just thinking about content management – they needed enterprise-grade security that wouldn’t create vulnerabilities across their network.
Similarly, Clayton County Water Authority came to us because they manage critical infrastructure. A security breach for them isn’t just about lost data. It could impact water treatment and distribution for an entire community. When they were evaluating digital signage solutions, security wasn’t a nice-to-have feature – it was the foundation of everything else.
The conference reinforced three security fundamentals that we've built into Skykit from day one:
Unmanaged Installations Are Your Biggest Risk
A Canadian incident highlighted how a customer’s failure to install updates for 12 months created vulnerabilities that ultimately reflected on the software provider. Regular maintenance isn’t optional.
The Basics Still Matter
Single sign-on, multi-factor authentication, and granular rights management are becoming standard even for smaller deployments.
AI Can Help, But It's Not Magic
Automation addresses about 50% of security challenges, making it crucial but not complete.
Enterprise-grade security and compliance standards are becoming table stakes. Organizations need confidence that their digital signage networks won’t become entry points for bad actors.
Cloud vs. On-Premise: It's Not Either/Or Anymore
Here’s something that surprised me: 20% of licenses are still deployed on-premise, primarily in banking, healthcare, and government. While cloud adoption is accelerating, data sovereignty concerns – especially due to geopolitical tensions – are driving hybrid deployments.
The key insight from multiple sessions: customers want choice and flexibility. Some data needs to stay on-premise for compliance or control reasons, while other operations benefit from cloud scalability and AI capabilities. This hybrid approach is becoming standard across our industry.
The API Revolution You Might Be Missing
One of the more technical discussions revealed something important: only 30% of customers use APIs heavily, with 60% still following traditional implementation methods. But enterprise customers and system integrators are rapidly adopting APIs to streamline delivery.
Microsoft’s Model Context Protocol (MCP) announcement captured my interest. It enables AI integration with APIs and allows non-coders to access system capabilities. This democratization of technology integration will accelerate digital signage deployments and make sophisticated solutions accessible to more organizations.
Electronic Ink: Beyond the Hype
The E Ink discussions revealed some fascinating developments. These displays now support 30-45 frames per second animation, with new sizes up to 75″ in development and expanding temperature ranges for extreme outdoor use.
The focus is shifting from competing with LCD to replacing paper. While E Ink is currently 10x the cost of LCD, the trajectory toward 2x cost could make it viable for specific use cases, particularly where sustainability KPIs matter.
Device Management: The Invisible Differentiator
One statistic stood out: managed services achieve 99% uptime compared to 71% without proper management. That 28-point difference can make or break enterprise deployments.
The trend toward “single pane of glass” views for all devices, integration with platforms like ServiceNow, and predictive maintenance capabilities represents the future of device management. It’s converging with broader IT operations, which means digital signage vendors need to think like enterprise software companies.
Five Strategic Insights That Will Shape 2025
Several patterns emerged that will influence how smart companies approach the market this year, and beyond:
- Specialization beats generalization - Companies must focus on specific verticals and clear market positioning rather than trying to be everything to everyone.
- Scale enables innovation - The resources required for AI investment, 24/7 support, and global operations favor companies that can achieve meaningful scale.
- Security is non-negotiable - With breaches averaging nearly $5 million, security cannot be an afterthought. It must be foundational.
- AI augments, doesn't replace - The most successful AI implementations enhance human capabilities rather than eliminate them.
- Hybrid approaches dominate - Whether it's cloud/on-premise deployment, AI/human collaboration, or direct/partner sales, flexibility wins.
What This Means for Your Strategy
We’re witnessing a fundamental shift in how digital signage operates. AI is accelerating innovation, security requirements are intensifying, and customer expectations for seamless integration and reliable operations continue rising. Companies that can navigate this complexity while maintaining focus on their core differentiators will thrive.
The insights from DSSE are already shaping how we think about real-time data visualization, security-first approaches, and building infrastructure to serve enterprise customers at scale. The future of digital signage isn’t just about displaying content. It’s about creating intelligent, secure and integrated communication networks that transform how organizations operate.
If you’re evaluating how AI, security requirements, or dashboard integration could transform your communication network, I’d welcome a conversation about what we’re seeing work for companies like yours.
I’m always interested in hearing how these trends are playing out in different industries.
