There is a difference between seeing smart home technology on a show floor and seeing it behave inside a space that feels like it could actually be lived in.
That distinction was hard to miss during our recent visit to the Savant Experience Center in New York City’s SoHo district. The expanded 8,000-square-foot space brings together power, lighting, shading, control, automation, and AI across residential and commercial environments, but what stood out was not simply the breadth of products on display. It was the way the systems worked together, including some of their latest AI-powered technology, to change the character of each room throughout the entire space.
And, as we prep to head out to Denver in just a few days for CEDIA Expo 2026, Savant’s latest announcement feels like an effort to take that kind of integrated experience to a whole ‘nother level by making it easier for dealers to sell, scale, install, and support their platform.
This week, Savant announced what it is calling a new era of more accessible dealer programs, paired with AI, lighting, shading, and energy solutions intended to help integrators expand project opportunities and improve profitability. The company will showcase the initiative at the show in Booth #2518.
At the center of the announcement is SavantOS 12, scheduled to launch this fall. According to Savant, the update will standardize the company’s software offering into a single unified platform and prep for launch their long-anticipated AI platform. For integrators, that could be one of the more important pieces of the announcement. A unified software foundation gives dealers multiple entry points into the Savant ecosystem while preserving the ability to scale across the broader product lineup.
In practical terms, that means a project does not have to begin as a fully loaded whole-home system to live on the same platform as one. A smaller lighting, shading, control, or energy project can become the front door into a larger Savant relationship. For integrators working across luxury, mid-level, and entry-level residences, that flexibility matters. It gives them a way to meet clients where they are, without closing off the path to a more complete connected home later.
That tracks closely with what Savant’s SoHo Experience Center communicates in physical form. The space has evolved over time, with updated lighting, controls, touch panels, keypads, processors, and GE Lighting products folded into a setting that still behaves like a coherent home or workplace. The rack wall, which has seen a reduction in the number of processors and black boxes over the years, quietly tells a larger story: the best integrated systems should be able to do more with less visible complexity.
SavantOS 12 appears designed to extend that idea to the dealer business itself.
“We’re continuing to enhance and grow our suite of advanced Savant technologies, while also streamlining licensing and software models, expanding access and affordability, and simplifying setup and service,” said JC Murphy, Chief Commercial Officer at Savant, in the announcement.
The software update will also add value to Savant Essentials, the company’s subscription-based service, and lay groundwork for the conversational user experience powered by Savant AI.
AI has become an unavoidable topic in the smart home channel, but Savant’s approach is notable because it is being positioned for both the homeowner and the integrator. For homeowners, Savant AI is described as an intelligent companion that can educate users on smart home capabilities, recommend experiences, and execute them. For integrators, the company says AI will assist with in-app setup, configuration, service, and support throughout a project’s lifecycle.
That dual role is important. If AI in the home is only a voice interface, it risks becoming another control novelty. If it can also reduce setup friction, improve service workflows, and help clients understand what their home can do, it becomes more meaningful to the business of integration.
During the Experience Center visit, the appeal of that homeowner-facing side was fairly easy to understand. Asking the system to build a scene around a mood, then refining it through a simple back-and-forth conversation, felt much closer to how clients naturally talk about their spaces. They may not know the exact color temperature, shade position, audio source, or sequence they want. They often know how they want the room to feel. A system that can translate that language into action gives integrators a more intuitive story to tell.
Savant is also expanding the physical layers that make those experiences possible. The GE Proseo lighting and shading portfolio is being positioned as a flexible path for dealers across a range of projects. One highlighted product is a dual-purpose keypad host that functions as both a light switch and a smart home hub, allowing Proseo solutions to operate as part of a whole-home Savant platform or as a standalone option.
The portfolio also includes in-wall controllers, professional-grade modular downlighting, undercabinet fixtures, indoor and outdoor light strips, and Proseo Inception and R Series shades. For Connected Design’s audience, the lighting and shading piece is especially relevant because it sits directly at the intersection of technology, design intent, comfort, and daily experience. These are not background categories anymore. They are among the most visible ways a connected home proves its value.
Savant Power rounds out the announcement with a continued push into intelligent energy management, backup power, load control, and resilience. The company highlighted its Savant Smart Panel, which gives homeowners real-time insight into energy consumption and control over how grid, solar, generator, or stored power is used. Savant is also expanding its battery portfolio with Savant Power Storage G2 and software that can turn existing Savant Power Storage units into a large-format Double Online Conversion UPS.
That matters because power has moved from a technical infrastructure conversation into a client-facing lifestyle category. Homeowners are increasingly aware of resilience, efficiency, and energy independence. For integrators, that creates a business opportunity that is larger than backup alone. Power can now be part of the luxury smart home story from the first design conversation.
Taken together, Savant’s CEDIA 2026 plans point to a company trying to reduce friction on both sides of the experience. For homeowners, the promise is a home that can be controlled more naturally, adapted more easily, and supported by systems that fade into the background. For integrators, the opportunity is a more accessible path into Savant projects, with software, AI, lighting, shading, and power all reinforcing the same platform story.
That is what made the SoHo Experience Center visit such useful context. The strongest smart home demonstrations are rarely about a single product. They are about what happens when the product layer disappears enough for the experience of the room to come forward.
At CEDIA Expo, Savant will have the job of showing integrators how that vision translates from an 8,000-square-foot experience center into everyday business. If the company can make that path simpler, more scalable, and more profitable, the announcement is not just about what Savant is bringing to Denver. It is about how the next generation of connected spaces may get specified, sold, and lived in.
