Integrators Have an Identity Problem

This whole thing started with one of those silly mailers. You know the kind, it lists out all the local home services you could possibly need. This one in particular is put together by a company called Best Pick Reports. 

Like any homeowner who has stared down a project list, I flipped through it. HVAC? There. Plumbers? Of course. Electricians, roofers, painters, pest control, foundation repair, windows and doors, landscaping, deck builders, garage doors, gutters. All the expected names were accounted for. You can see the same thing on the Best Pick Reports website, which is built around helping homeowners find trusted home service providers. It’s a useful resource. That’s not the issue. In fact, that’s kind of the point.

Because what you won’t find, at least not in any obvious way, is an integrator. And once I noticed that absence, it became hard to unsee.

Here’s an industry that touches nearly every modern home in some way. Lighting control. Shading. Networking. Security. Audio. Video. Power. Acoustics. Wellness. Aging in place. Outdoor living. Interfaces that make all of it usable. The stuff that makes a house feel less like a collection of systems and more like a home that understands how people actually live. And yet, for most consumers, and even for plenty of builders, architects, and designers, there still isn’t a clean mental category for the person or company that does that work.

They know the electrician. They know the plumber. They know the roofer. They know the designer. But the integrator? If they know one at all, there’s a good chance they call them “the AV guy,” “the tech guy,” “the smart home guy,” or, worse, “my computer guy.”

That’s not just a naming issue. It’s a visibility issue. And it might be one of the biggest challenges this channel has to solve.

Is The Integrator Name The Problem?

David Rosenberg of Force AV put it plainly during a recent Connected Design Podcast conversation. “AV guy is what it’s called,” he said. “Some people call us IT guys and my computer guy, but it’s so much more than that. There isn’t really a widely used term.”

That line stuck with me because it gets right to the heart of the problem. The work of the channel has evolved, but the language hasn’t necessarily kept up.

Even “smart home,” which is probably the closest thing to a consumer-friendly umbrella term, comes with its own baggage. For some people, smart home means a professionally designed, deeply integrated environment. For others, it means a doorbell camera, a smart speaker, and a few light bulbs they bought online. Same phrase, wildly different expectations.

So, what do you call the person who makes the modern home work?

Technology consultant? System integrator? Smart home professional? Experience designer? Problem solver? Maybe all of the above? Or, maybe none of them quite land.

Rosenberg joked that “technology problem solvers” might be closer, but even he admitted the work is too complicated to be captured by one neat tagline. “We’re not a theater company, we’re not an AV company, we’re not a landscape company,” he said. “We do all of it.”

That’s the opportunity, and the problem, wrapped into one.

The integrator’s value is broad. But broad value is hard to explain quickly, especially to people who only know the trade through whatever narrow experience they’ve had before. If their reference point is a TV mount, they think AV guy. If it’s a router issue, they think Wi-Fi. If it’s a remote that stopped working, they think technical support call.

The industry knows it’s more than that. The public, by and large, does not.

CEDIA’s Push to Make Integrators Visible

Amanda Wildman, the current CEDIA Board Chair, has been talking about this exact problem with the urgency it deserves. And her perspective matters here not just because she’s an integrator herself, but because she’s helping steer this industry’s top association at a moment when CEDIA is investing more directly in design/build outreach in addition to its continued push for industry recognition on Capitol Hill.

“It is our job to help open up the doors to the people that make the decisions around having an integrator or not having an integrator,” Wildman told me during our recent podcast.

In other words, before an integrator can be selected, specified, or recommended, someone has to understand that bringing one in is even a decision that has to be made.

Wildman continued by framing the work as a needed asset, not an afterthought. The goal, she said, is to help the design/build community understand “we are a needed asset on every single project.”

That’s a big statement, but it’s also not a stretch when you think about today’s luxury homes or the modern commercial space.

Technology is no longer an added layer after the “real” home is designed. It’s woven through how people enter the home, secure it, light it, work in it, entertain in it, age in it, and feel comfortable in it. If that work is considered too late, everyone pays for it. The client. The builder. The designer. The electrician. The integrator. Sometimes all of them, loudly.

The industry loves to say it needs to be brought in “early and often.” And it does. But saying that phrase over and over again doesn’t, on its own, make a strategy.

Katye McGregor Bennett made that point sharply in her recent commentary in Residential Systems, arguing that integrators can’t expect designers, builders, and architects to simply make room for them because the industry says it wants in earlier. Trust has to be earned. Relevance has to be demonstrated. The design/build community needs to see that an integrator reduces friction, respects design intent, and improves the finished project.

That’s fair. And honestly, it’s probably overdue.

Wanting a seat at the table is one thing. Showing why you belong there is another.

Speaking the Language of Builders and Designers

Kyle Steele, Founder and President of Global Wave Integration, has clearly thought a lot about this. In our recent conversation, he talked about the evolution away from leading with AV language, even though that’s where so much of the channel started.

“We are not the AV guys,” Steele said. “I mean, yes, we are. But even now, people don’t really want to hear that. Designers don’t want to talk about systems or automation. Let’s talk about experiences and environments.”

That’s the translation this industry has to get better at. Not racks and black boxes. Not automation for automation’s sake. And especially not a product list.

Designers and builders, and especially their clients care more about the experience and the environment that they’ll be delivering or living in. How does the space make me feel? Is it reliable and livable?

Steele took it further when talking about designers specifically. “Interior designers don’t want to refer in the AV guy because now they feel like they’re on the hook if anything happens,” he said. “So, you really have to frame it in the experience: How do you want this room to feel?”

That one question changes the conversation. It moves the integrator away from being a late-stage subcontractor selling devices and toward being a collaborator who can help preserve, support, and even enhance design intent. It also lowers the temperature a bit. A designer may not want to talk about processors, control systems, or network topology. But they absolutely care about how a room feels. So does the client.

Joe Piccirilli, CEO of RoseWater Energy, who has never been shy about naming the uncomfortable part out loud, described the gap between trades in a way that’s hard to shake.

“It kills me that my system integrator community and the builder and design community, even though our major language is English, we don’t speak the same language at all,” he told us recently. “And we have to fix that.”

That, plain and simple, is the job.

Because if builders hear complexity, designers hear risk, and homeowners hear “tech guy,” the integrator is already starting from behind the eight ball. The work may be essential, but if the value isn’t legible, it’s still invisible.

Mitch Klein, whose career has given him a pretty wide-angle view of the CEDIA channel, put the discovery issue into even clearer terms. The association and the broader industry can help build awareness, he said, but respect is still earned locally, relationship by relationship.

“We can’t establish that respect as CEDIA,” he said in a recent interview. “Each integrator is going to have to earn that respect one at a time. What we can do is earn the recognition that the need exists, that you need to bring in an expert.”

That’s the distinction. Recognition comes first. Respect follows performance.

Klein also pointed out that many integrators already receive referrals through the design community because those designers understand the need. They know the work is no longer “just simply hang a TV and you’re done.” There are subsystems throughout the home, from lighting and security to audio and media rooms. Someone has to understand how those systems relate to each other, how they impact the client experience, and how they fit into the broader project.

But awareness is still uneven, Klein said. “We need to build the rapport with the different design organizations that say, ‘I recognize the need for it, now where do I go and find someone?’”

That question — where do I go and find someone? — brings us right back to that mailer.

Because a homeowner resource can list dozens of trades and still miss the one responsible for making the connected home actually behave. That isn’t Best Pick Reports’ failure. It’s a signal to the integration channel that the category still isn’t commonly understood enough to be looked for.

The Builders Who Get It

The flip side of all of this is that there are builders out there who recognize the importance of this channel. They may not always use the same language, and they most likely didn’t start by searching for an “integrator,” but they understand the role once they see what the right partner can do.

Jason Bourg, owner of Bourg Builders, a custom home builder in north central Arkansas, is the perfect example. Technology isn’t an afterthought in the homes he builds. In fact, it came up naturally in our conversation because, for him, it’s part of what makes a custom home feel truly custom.

“For me, I want the house to work with me,” Bourg said. “I don’t want to fight the house when I’m living in it.”

Bourg’s own path to finding an integrator is telling, too. He didn’t begin with the category. He began with the outcome he wanted for his own home.

“At the time I was looking for a system that would just run everything on one remote,” he said. After researching platforms, he landed on Control4, which led him to Brad’s Home Entertainment, a local dealer. “I found the technology, then I found the company that can install the technology,” Bourg said. “They knew how to integrate it and knew all the ins and outs of it.”

In other words, the technology backed him into the relationship. That’s great when it works. But it also shows how fragile the discovery path can be. Bourg was curious enough, technical enough, and motivated enough to do the digging. Plenty of homeowners, and plenty of builders, won’t be.

Now, though, that integrator relationship is baked into how Bourg approaches projects. “Every house that we build, I build a budget in the original estimate for infrastructure,” he said. “My original estimate includes infrastructure for internet, we run Cat everywhere, any cabling, security cameras, all that stuff is kind of integrated into my original budget. So, even if the homeowner decides not to do it, the infrastructure is there.”

That’s the kind of thinking integrators are asking for when they talk about being brought in early. It’s not just about selling more technology. It’s about protecting the future of the home.

And for Bourg, the value of the integrator relationship is pretty straightforward.

“As a general contractor, there’s no way we can possibly keep up with everything that’s new,” he said. “We have subcontractors that work with us that are experts in their field. Take electricians, for example. I’m not a master electrician, but my subcontractor is a master electrician, and he knows everything about it. And so that’s kind of how I see integrators as well.”

Bourg said his integrator keeps him up to date not only on what’s new, but on how those systems need to be planned for during rough-in and electrical stages. The relationship works because it’s built on communication, transparency, and trust.

“We really do work hand in hand on every aspect of integrating the house, from the design side to the installation side,” he said. “The main thing we do is communicate and we talk a lot.”

That might be the most practical advice in the entire conversation. Builders don’t need integrators to make the process more mysterious. They need them to make the home better, the planning clearer, and the client conversation easier.

Showing the Value of Smart Home Integration

So, what’s it going to take to get more builders and designers to think like Bourg? 

It’s not going to happen with one campaign, or one showroom event where everyone politely nods, has a drink, and goes back to business as usual.

It’s going to take repetition, presence, and usefulness.

Klein mentioned education as one of the most practical ways in. Lunch-and-learns. CEUs. Architecture firm relationships. Getting out and doing the old-fashioned work of knocking on doors, building trust, and showing up where the design/build community already spends its time.

Jason Ehrlich of Kinetics made a similar point in a recent interview when we talked about acoustics. Customers may know they need speakers, a screen, lighting, or seating. Very few will walk into a showroom saying, “I need acoustics.” But once they understand what the room is doing to the experience, the conversation changes.

That’s a perfect example of integrator-adjacent value that has to be shown, not just explained.

Boca Tech’s Jeff Galea and Marcio Gomes talked about this through the lens of visual storytelling. If clients can see the before, during, and after, if they can understand the design intent before a shovel hits the ground or a wire gets pulled, the technology stops feeling abstract. It becomes part of the story of the home.

Rosenberg described Force AV’s showroom the same way. “When I bring people into the showroom, it’s a story,” he said. “It’s not a product demonstration.”

That should probably be printed out and taped to a few conference room walls. Because product demonstrations have their place. Of course they do. But the design/build community doesn’t need another trade walking in with a pitch deck full of boxes. They need partners who can help solve problems they already have, prevent problems they haven’t seen yet, and make the finished project better.

Seth Kaplan, talking about his decision to locate LK & Associates new experience center in a design center surrounded by kitchens, rugs, outdoor furniture, and other design-world touchpoints, called that connection to the architecture and design community “the holy grail for our integrators and reps for years.”

He’s right. But the holy grail isn’t just being near designers. It’s being relevant to them.

That means CEU courses, yes. It means design-center events, showroom experiences, and project walks. It means inviting builders and designers into spaces where they can feel what the technology does without needing to decode the technical language behind it. It means creating content that makes the invisible parts of the work visible. It means following up after the event, not just collecting business cards and calling it a win.

And it means understanding that the integrator’s role doesn’t end when the project wraps.

From “AV Guy” to Long-Term Home Technology Partner

This is where Wildman’s point becomes especially powerful. Unlike some trades that come in, complete their scope, and move on, a good integrator can stay connected to the homeowner for years. The technology needs of a home change as the family changes. Security needs shift. Entertainment habits evolve. Kids get older. Parents age. Work-from-home becomes hybrid, then something else. Wellness, lighting, access, monitoring, and comfort all keep moving.

“We are a unique trade in the fact that if we do our job properly, if we get to know the homeowner, if we get to know their expectations of how they want their life to be best lived in their home and space, we stay with them for life,” Wildman said.

That’s a much bigger story than “AV guy.” And Wildman put the industry’s challenge as simply as anyone: “We are that valuable. We just need to let the public know.”

That’s the assignment. Not just for CEDIA. Not just for integrators. Not just for manufacturers, buying groups, reps, media, or event organizers. It’s the assignment for all of us.

If this industry wants homeowners to search for integrators the way they search for roofers and remodelers, then it has to make the category easier to understand. It has to show up in the places where homeowners and trade partners are already looking. It has to speak less in acronyms and more in outcomes. And it has to stop assuming that being essential automatically makes it visible.

The goal isn’t simply to get “integrator” added to a list of home service categories (though I wouldn’t mind seeing that happen). The bigger goal is for a homeowner, builder, architect, or designer to understand why they need to look for one in the first place.

Until then, this channel has some work to do. And more importantly, it has some showing up to do.