By Bhardwaj Naik, Chief Revenue Officer, India – APAC and MEA, Videonetics
Majority of the population notice surveillance cameras only when something goes wrong. A theft. A road accident. A missing person. Investigators review CCTV footage to reconstruct events and establish what happened. For decades, surveillance systems have primarily served as a tool for post-incident investigation, providing critical evidence after an event has already unfolded.
Today, that paradigm is fundamentally shifting. Advances in artificial intelligence is transforming surveillance from a passive recording mechanism to an intelligent decision-support system, one that is capable of enabling proactive security. Rather than simply documenting events, modern surveillance solutions can identify an unattended bag in a crowded railway station, detect a vehicle travelling in the wrong direction, recognise suspicious activity around critical infrastructure, or alert security teams to emerging risks before they escalate into critical incidents.
This evolution reflects a broader shift in how organisations and governments perceive security. The objective is no longer to capture what has already happened, but to anticipate what could happen and respond in real time. Surveillance is becoming a source of actionable intelligence, empowering organisations to make faster, more informed decisions that strengthen safety, operational resilience, and business continuity.
The market trajectory strengthens this transformation. Industry estimates project India’s video analytics market to grow from US$221.4 million in 2023 to US$777.6 million by 2028, driven by the increasing adoption of AI-powered surveillance and intelligent monitoring systems across industries. As businesses and government institutions across the world expand their surveillance infrastructure, the conversation is moving beyond the number of cameras deployed. The real value lies in the ability to convert vast volumes of video data into meaningful, real-time insights that enable informed action.
From Managing Footage to Enabling Intelligent Decision-Making
At the centre of this transformation is the Video Management System (VMS). Once regarded primarily as software for recording and storing footage, VMS has evolved into the intelligence layer of modern surveillance. It now serves as the platform that brings together video, artificial intelligence and operational workflows, enabling organisations to move from simply monitoring events to making faster, more informed decisions.
This is the transition we have been building toward for years which is managing video to computing intelligence from video. It also points to the next phase of video intelligence, where the VMS is not simply the layer that manages video, but the foundation for turning visual data into real-time, contextual intelligence and actionable outcomes.
This evolution has been driven by the unprecedented growth in video data. Today, videos account for nearly 80% of global internet traffic, and that share is expected to continue rising. Every smart city, airport, metro network, enterprise campus and critical infrastructure project generates a continuous stream of visual information. While advances in camera technology have made capturing high-quality footage easier than ever, they have also exposed a fundamental limitation: no human operator can effectively monitor thousands of live feeds or analyse countless hours of recorded video with the speed, consistency and accuracy that today’s operating environments demand. The challenge is no longer one of visibility, but it is one of intelligence.
This is where the role of VMS becomes critical. Modern platforms are designed not merely to aggregate video streams, but to interpret them. By correlating events across multiple cameras, distinguishing routine activity from genuine security concerns, and delivering contextual, real-time alerts, intelligent VMS enables operators to focus their attention where it is needed most. Rather than relying on retrospective investigations, organisations can identify anomalies as they emerge, accelerate incident response and improve the quality of operational decision-making.
The implications of this shift extend far beyond conventional security. The intelligence derived from video can optimise traffic flow, improve the efficiency of public transport systems, strengthen workplace safety, enhance compliance, and support the resilient management of critical infrastructure.
Turning Intelligence into Public Impact
Across India, intelligent video solutions are enabling authorities to move beyond reactive incident management towards proactive, data-driven decision-making that enhances public safety and improves the delivery of citizen services.
A compelling example of this transformation is Andhra Pradesh’s CCTV360 Real-Time Governance System, one of India’s largest AI-led public safety initiatives. By integrating more than 15,000 IP cameras across all 28 districts into a unified platform, the system provides authorities with a comprehensive operational view of public spaces. This enables more effective traffic management, faster emergency response, enhanced situational awareness and greater investigative capabilities, all through a single, connected ecosystem.
However, the true significance of such initiatives lies not in the scale of the camera network, but in the intelligence that powers it. A modern Video Management System serves as the foundation of this ecosystem, bringing together capabilities such as AI-powered analytics, facial recognition, behavioural analysis, Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) and forensic search into a unified operational framework. Working in concert, these technologies transform isolated streams of video into contextual intelligence, enabling operators to understand developing situations, prioritise critical events and make informed decisions with greater speed and confidence.
Facial recognition, for instance, is often viewed narrowly as a tool for identity verification. Its greater value emerges when it is integrated within a broader video intelligence ecosystem. Combined with advanced analytics, it can help locate persons of interest, accelerate investigations and strengthen situational awareness across complex operating environments. At the same time, the responsible deployment of these capabilities is paramount. Their long-term success will depend on strong governance frameworks, strong cybersecurity measures and privacy safeguards that ensure transparency, accountability and public trust.
As intelligent video becomes an integral component of national infrastructure and digital governance, the conversation must extend beyond technological capability. The defining challenge is no longer whether AI can make surveillance systems smarter, but whether these systems are designed and governed in ways that earn and sustain public confidence. Ultimately, technology delivers lasting value not simply through innovation, but through trust in how it is built, how it is governed and how responsibly it is applied to serve society.