How AI Is Revolutionizing Enterprise Physical Security

Enterprises today face growing physical security challenges that traditional systems can’t handle, leading to alert fatigue, high costs, and significant risks. AI-powered platforms are revolutionizing enterprise security by automating triage, eliminating false alarms, and empowering teams to focus on real threats. 

The modern enterprise is complex, with global campuses, hybrid workforces, and intricate supply chains–leading to an ever-expanding attack surface. While headlines focus on cybersecurity breaches, a critical threat is escalating within the physical world: dangerously outdated physical security infrastructure. The traditional approach to physical security is no longer just outdated; it’s a liability.  

The challenge is a matter of scale, speed, and cost.  

For today’s organizations, the ability to scale security operations efficiently is non-negotiable. The challenges of standardizing security across multiple sites, integrating disparate systems, and navigating diverse regulatory environments can be immense. How do physical security leaders secure sprawling corporate campuses that are more like small cities? How do they protect thousands of employees and billions of dollars in assets across dozens or even hundreds of sites, each with its own unique risks and regulatory requirements? 

The previous model, which relied only on guards, gates, and traditional cameras, is buckling under this pressure. This legacy approach not only generates an overwhelming amount of unmanageable data but also fails at the most important task, which is to keep people and critical assets safe. Without the right intelligence layer, security operations become reactive and slow, bogged down in endless investigations rather than rapid responses. More headcount, more cameras, and more spend are added, but the result is often the same: delayed responses, escalating costs, and higher risk. 

Limitations of Legacy Physical Security 

Traditional physical security models were not designed for the scale and complexity of today’s enterprise. Guards, gates, and motion-based cameras struggle to keep up with sprawling campuses and a global workforce. What’s at stake is not just operational efficiency, but the core responsibilities of protecting people and critical assets. 

Without intelligence at the core, legacy systems fail to differentiate between true threats and harmless activity, leaving organizations to operate in a reactive state. When a breach does occur, the consequences are immediate, starting from data loss and operational shutdowns to risks to human safety. 

What’s more, the model drives unsustainable costs. More buildings and cameras translate directly into more guards and analysts, increasing headcount without delivering stronger protection.  

This outdated model doesn’t just fall short, it turns physical security into a liability. 

The GSOC Dilemma: Alert Fatigue’s Hidden Costs 

Behind the blinking screens of every Global Security Operations Center (GSOC) are teams of dedicated professionals with a challenging mission. GSOC analysts are drowning in data, spending their days chasing ghosts born from unsophisticated motion-based alerts triggered by basic video analytics. This constant stream of “cry wolf” alerts leads directly to alert fatigue. 

Alert fatigue leads to burnout, high turnover, and a perpetual cycle of hiring and retraining that drains institutional knowledge and weakens the team’s overall effectiveness. For security teams, this has three major consequences: 

• Genuine risks are buried in a sea of false positives 

• Erodes the quality of service 

• Drives up the cost of operations 

Every false alarm consumes resources, and to cope with the volume, organizations add more analysts, more contractors, and experience more turnover. The result is a reactive security posture, where teams are perpetually responding to incidents rather than proactively preventing them. 

From Reactive to Proactive: AI as the Security Game-Changer  

The future of physical security depends on breaking this cycle. The answer isn’t more personnel or more cameras; the answer is intelligent, more efficient security. 

The future of physical security lies in leveraging the power of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to augment human expertise, transforming physical security from a reactive cost center into a proactive, data-driven strategic enabler.  

AI-powered technology for physical security is a force multiplier for security teams. By using advanced computer vision and deep learning to analyze video feeds in real time, understanding the context of events as they unfold, and filtering out the noise, technology empowers security teams to focus exclusively on the incidents that require their attention. 

Forward-leaning organizations incorporate AI to free up GSOC analysts to do what they do best: manage critical incidents, coordinate responses, and engage in proactive security. 

Scaling Security with AI 

Companies are seeing the real-world impact of this AI-powered physical security approach. For example, ServiceNow achieved a 94% false alarm reduction with an AI-powered physical security platform. Faced with the challenge of securing 13 of its U.S. sites, ServiceNow inserted an AI-powered platform into its security camera infrastructure to drive operational efficiency and scale its security operations sustainably. 

The results, documented in the first half of 2025, are a powerful testament to the ROI of AI-powered physical security. In these months, the platform processed over 240,831 alarms. 94% of these alarms were automatically cleared by the AI, requiring no human intervention. 

The operational impact was immediate: 

• 15,069 hours of manual triage saved, enabling GSOC to focus on what really matters—protecting people and assets 

• Over $500,000 saved in costs 

• 61,000 threat alerts resolved in under a minute 

This experience demonstrates a fundamental shift in how physical security is managed. Instead of adding more headcount to monitor an ever-increasing number of cameras, ServiceNow was able to scale its security monitoring across 13 sites without proportional headcount growth. Further, minimizing the repetitive, low-value task of clearing false alarms improves morale, reduces the risk of burnout, and allows talented security professionals to focus on more strategic and engaging work, ultimately boosting employee retention. 

Building an Intelligent, Data-Driven Security Culture 

Technology is a powerful tool, but true transformation comes from the behavioral shift it enables. An AI-powered physical security platform provides security leaders with more than just a security tool; it’s a transformation enabler that provides the foundation for a data-driven, scalable, and intelligent approach to physical security that aligns with the pace and complexity of the modern enterprise.