Organisations in the UK and Ireland are setting the pace when it comes to the use of AI within physical security systems, reveals Verkada’s 2026 State of Cloud Physical Security Report.
In a survey for the report, 49% of organisations in the UK and Ireland say they are already using AI in their physical security systems – the highest level among the five European countries surveyed – and an additional 27% are piloting or testing the technology.
Among those already using/piloting AI, the most widely deployed capabilities are AI-verified alarm monitoring (52%); real-time motion, loitering or line-crossing alerts (47%); AI-generated incident reports (44%); facial recognition (43%); and AI- powered proactive deterrence such as automated voice warnings (43%).
Uncertainty about AI regulations is limiting the take-up of certain technologies, including facial recognition (restricted/avoided by 42%), real-time biometric identification (41%) and automated decision-making without human review (30%).
The actual or predicted operational benefits of AI include faster incident investigations (cited by 58%), improved real-time threat detection (56%), proactive crime prevention (40%), fewer false alarms (39%) and lower security operating costs (36%).
https://www.verkada.com/ ebooks/2026-state-of-cloud-physical- security-global-edition/
