Cloud-native, AI-powered security platforms are becoming the foundation of smarter, safer and more resilient cities, says Rishi Lodhia, Managing Director EMEA, Brivo.
As cities become more connected, the foundation of the smart city is much more than transportation systems, utilities and digital infrastructure.
Increasingly, the foundation of tomorrow’s smart cities will be cloud-native, AI-powered unified security platforms.
Far beyond simple security tools, the unified security platform can support modern urban life, helping cities improve safety, efficiency, sustainability and quality of life for people who live and work there.
Traditional physical security systems were built for isolated facilities with defined perimeters.
Smart cities operate differently.
Buildings, transportation networks, utilities and other public infrastructure are interconnected through shared digital platforms and centralised systems – for example, smart buildings tied into energy grids, traffic systems connected to public transit networks and airports integrating security, surveillance and facility operations into a single control platform.
As a result, the distinction between physical infrastructure and digital infrastructure continues to narrow.
The challenge of fragmented systems
This shift is creating new challenges for municipalities, property operators and enterprise security teams.
In one day, residents, employees, contractors, delivery providers and visitors may enter and exit a modern mixed-use development, comprising apartments, offices, gyms and health centres.
Occupants increasingly expect mobile-first entry experiences, app-based amenity management, mobile alerts and other remote services.
At the same time, building operators are often managing temporary access permissions and overseeing coordination of multiple remote locations.
Legacy physical security systems were never designed to support this level of operational complexity.
Historically, access control, video surveillance, visitor management and building operations were deployed independently, often operating on separate networks with separate administrative workflows.
These fragmented environments are difficult to manage, slow incident response, limit centralised oversight and create additional cybersecurity concerns as more physical security systems connect to enterprise networks and cloud platforms.
Smart cities are moving to a centralised model
To address these challenges, organisations are increasingly moving away from traditional on-premises infrastructure in favour of cloud-native physical security platforms built around scalability, interoperability and centralised management.
Unlike legacy systems that rely heavily on local servers and site-by-site administration, cloud-based platforms allow operators to manage credentials, permissions, schedules, alerts and reporting across multiple facilities through a unified interface.
This centralised model offers important operational and cybersecurity advantages.
Organisations can deploy updates consistently, standardise security policies across locations, reduce reliance on aging infrastructure and strengthen resilience across distributed environments.
At the same time, organisations are beginning to adopt agentic-AI-powered smart city and property management orchestrators, where humans remain in the loop to provide oversight, decision support, approvals, operational control and continuous feedback.
For next-generation orchestration agents to operate effectively, the underlying security infrastructure must be unified, cloud-native, interoperable and capable of supporting real-time intelligence and automation at scale.
For smart city operators managing growing portfolios of connected buildings and public-facing infrastructure, centralised administration and remote management have become essential operational requirements.
At the same time, physical security technologies themselves are evolving into unified platforms.
Access control systems increasingly connect with VMS, mobile credentials, automation tools and cloud-based analytics to improve situational awareness and coordination.
Convenience and operational insight
Unified platforms allow operators to correlate access events with live or recorded video, automate administrative workflows, investigate incidents remotely and respond more quickly to potential security events.
Mobile credentials are also becoming commonplace in modern urban environments, replacing traditional key cards with secure, contactless access through personal devices.
Beyond improving convenience for residents and employees, mobile-first systems help operators manage credentials and understand occupancy patterns across multiple properties.
Resilience. Scalability. Cybersecurity.
AI is accelerating this transition. AI-powered unified security platforms can help identify unusual activity patterns, reduce false alarms and prioritise incidents requiring immediate attention.
As cities continue to generate larger volumes of operational and security data, intelligent automation will become essential to maintain effective oversight across a complex urban infrastructure.
This is where platforms such as Brivo Security Suite are becoming increasingly important for modern smart cities.
Rather than functioning as isolated security tools, unified cloud-based access control and video management systems now support broader operational objectives tied to resilience, scalability, cybersecurity and occupant experience.
Brivo’s cloud-native architecture allows organisations to centrally manage access control and video management operations across multiple facilities without relying on extensive on-site infrastructure.
By combining access events with integrated video verification, operators can investigate incidents more efficiently, improve response coordination and maintain visibility across distributed properties from a single operational interface.
This unified operational model also creates the foundation for emerging agentic-AI-driven orchestrators that can help automate workflows, surface operational insights, coordinate responses across systems and support faster decision-making while maintaining human oversight and control.
In the future, APIs must be open and AI-friendly
An open API enables integrations to automate credential management workflows and connect security operations with wider property technology ecosystems.
An open API that is AI-friendly is a new, ground-breaking innovation for smart cities and businesses around the world. The AI-friendly API enables unlimited integrations that can be deployed faster and more economically.
Integrations that previously would take many months to develop can now be accomplished in hours.
Flexible workspace provider SpaceMade illustrates how connected infrastructure can support modern property operations.
Operating coworking spaces across historic buildings in the UK, the company needed to modernise its operations to support a highly flexible workspace model with frequent tenant turnover, flexible room bookings, mobile access and centralised oversight across multiple locations.
At the same time, many of the historic properties could not accommodate extensive cabling, large server rooms or heavily centralised hardware deployments.
To address these challenges, SpaceMade deployed Brivo Access with integrated cloud-based video management and connected Office RnD through Brivo’s open API.
The cloud-based architecture streamlined site deployment, automated credential provisioning and simplified access management workflows across the company’s portfolio.
According to SpaceMade, onboarding a new site decreased from four or five days to approximately one or two hours, while automation saved more than 400 administrative hours annually.
Centralised management capabilities also enabled remote teams to monitor incidents, review video and coordinate operations across multiple cities through a single interface, improving operational efficiency while minimising the need for extensive local infrastructure.
The new foundation of smart cities
The SpaceMade deployment reflects a transformation occurring across smart cities.
Physical security no longer focuses solely on securing individual doors or monitoring isolated camera systems.
Increasingly, access control, video management systems, mobile credentials, automation and cloud-based administration are converging into unified operational ecosystems that support resilience, cybersecurity, occupant experience and day-to-day infrastructure management.
