The countdown to InfoComm 2026 is officially in high gear. Within the span of just a few weeks, AVIXA has announced a Cisco vice president as the event’s keynote speaker, confirmed Shure Incorporated as the exclusive Headline Partner, and laid out an ambitious conferencing and collaboration theme that signals exactly where the commercial AV industry is heading. If you’re a systems integrator, AV consultant, or technology manager, this show is shaping up to be one of the most consequential InfoComm events in years — and the keynote lineup is only part of the reason why.
Cisco’s Espen Løberg Takes the InfoComm 2026 Stage
AVIXA confirmed last week that Espen Løberg, Vice President and General Manager of Collaboration Devices at Cisco, will deliver the keynote address at InfoComm 2026, scheduled for June 13–19 at the Las Vegas Convention Center (exhibits June 17–19).
Løberg’s presentation will center on Cisco’s concept of Connected Intelligence — a framework that integrates collaboration platforms, physical devices, enterprise networks, and AI-enabled infrastructure into a unified workplace experience. The talk is expected to address one of the most persistent pain points in commercial AV: the siloed management of AV systems, IT infrastructure, workplace analytics, and AI tools, which leads to complex deployments, inconsistent user experiences, and blind spots in workspace performance data.
“By bringing together collaboration devices, services built-in with Agentic AI and secure network infrastructure, organizations can deliver experiences where people, technology and intelligent systems work seamlessly together,” Løberg said in a statement ahead of the show. “We’re excited to share how Cisco is helping customers build future-ready workplaces at InfoComm 2026.”
Løberg oversees Cisco’s global Collaboration Devices business, including videoconferencing systems, desk devices, and intelligent peripherals. He has been with Cisco since 2010 and has played a central role in advancing the company’s AI-powered meeting room experiences — a portfolio that now includes partnerships with NVIDIA, Microsoft, Zoom, Apple, and Samsung, all of whom will factor into his keynote.
As Commercial Integrator noted, Løberg’s presence at the InfoComm keynote stage fits perfectly into the show’s broader narrative about AV-IT convergence — the recognition that professional AV is no longer a standalone discipline but an integrated layer of enterprise technology infrastructure.
This Is the Second Major Keynote Announcement — And That’s Significant
What makes Løberg’s keynote announcement particularly interesting is the context it arrives in. AVIXA already announced Microsoft’s Ilya Bukshteyn as a keynote speaker for InfoComm 2026. Now Cisco joins the lineup. Having both Microsoft and Cisco on the InfoComm main stage in the same year is a clear statement about where the industry’s center of gravity lies: not just in traditional AV hardware, but at the intersection of collaboration software, intelligent devices, and AI-driven infrastructure.
For integrators, this creates a fascinating dynamic. Cisco and Microsoft are both partners and competitors in the collaboration space — Cisco Webex vs. Microsoft Teams is one of the defining enterprise rivalries of the decade. Seeing both companies keynote the same AV industry event signals that the professional AV world is becoming the battleground where these platforms compete for deployment at scale.
The practical implication for consultants and integrators is straightforward: you need to be fluent in both ecosystems. Your enterprise clients aren’t choosing “an AV system” anymore — they’re choosing a collaboration platform and asking you to build the physical environment around it.
InfoComm 2026’s Conferencing and Collaboration Theme
AVIXA has made it official: Conferencing and Collaboration is the defining theme of InfoComm 2026. The show will feature dedicated sessions, activation hubs, and thought leadership tracks from some of the biggest names in the space, including Microsoft, Google, Cisco, Logitech, Zoom, Lenovo, and enterprise end-users like Visa and Capital Group.
Sessions confirmed for the show include:
- “AI Enhanced Meeting Spaces: Designing for Inclusivity, Efficiency, and Smart Automation” — featuring speakers from Logitech, Microsoft, Lenovo, Huddly, and AstraZeneca
- “The ROI of Intelligent Collaboration Spaces” — addressing how organizations quantify the business value of upgraded AV environments
- “Unlock Meeting Equity with Google Meet AI and Logitech Room Solutions” — spotlighting AI-driven meeting parity for remote and in-room participants
- “AV as a Neural Network: The Architecture of Intelligent Space Design” — one of the more conceptually ambitious sessions, exploring how AV infrastructure is being reimagined as a connected sensing and response layer
For integrators thinking about what skills and certifications to prioritize in 2026, this session list reads like a roadmap. AI-enhanced spaces, AV-over-IP, meeting equity, and intelligent room analytics are not emerging trends anymore — they’re the table stakes for any serious commercial AV practice.
Shure Takes the Headline Partner Slot — And It Makes Sense
On March 5, AVIXA announced Shure Incorporated as the exclusive Headline Partner for InfoComm 2026 — the first time the show has designated a single brand in this elevated role. The partnership gives Shure a uniquely prominent position on the show floor and in the educational programming, and it reflects the growing centrality of professional audio in modern collaboration environments.
Shure will power two major activation hubs at the show:
- The Pitch Activation Hub (North Hall): A sports-and-entertainment-focused demonstration showing how live event production, broadcast workflows, and immersive fan experiences converge — with Shure supplying the audio backbone.
- The Smart Workplace Activation Hub (Central Hall): An immersive Class A office environment designed to show how enterprise-grade audio enables daily collaboration, executive communications, and internal broadcasts.
Shure will also deliver a 90-minute Vision Stage takeover with multiple thought leadership and technical sessions, plus a 20-minute Spotlight Stage presentation focused on practical deployment scenarios. “Shure’s partnership helps us elevate that experience for attendees — especially at the intersection of pro AV, broadcast workflows, and modern collaboration,” said Jenn Heinold, SVP of Expositions, Americas at AVIXA.
Shure’s commercial AV portfolio — including the MXA Series ceiling and table array microphones, ANI Series audio network interfaces, and SystemOn audio asset management platform — increasingly shows up in mid-to-large enterprise meeting room deployments. Their selection as Headline Partner is a vote of confidence in the direction professional audio is heading: networked, intelligent, and deeply integrated with the collaboration software layer.
The Show Floor Gets a New Look: Work/Play Experience
Beyond the keynotes and headline partnership, InfoComm 2026 is debuting a redesigned show floor concept called the Work/Play Experience — a structural shift in how exhibitor space is organized. Rather than the traditional product-category layout, the new format gives attendees a clear narrative lens into how AV solutions serve both functional enterprise environments (smart workplaces, classrooms, conferencing) and creative or experiential ones (live events, broadcast, immersive entertainment).
Education runs throughout the full June 13–19 window in the West Hall Meeting Rooms, while exhibits are concentrated June 17–19 in the North and Central Halls. The program spans audio, conferencing and collaboration, broadcast workflows, enterprise IT, learning spaces, events and entertainment, and the growing application of AI across AV systems and production.
What This All Means for Commercial AV Integrators
Step back and look at what InfoComm 2026 is signaling with these announcements, and a clear picture emerges. The commercial AV industry is in the middle of a fundamental repositioning — from a hardware-centric specialty trade to an AI-enabled, software-integrated discipline that sits at the intersection of enterprise IT, communications technology, and intelligent building systems.
The keynote lineup (Cisco, Microsoft) speaks to where enterprise budgets are flowing. The Headline Partner (Shure) speaks to the enduring centrality of professional audio in that transition. The session themes — meeting equity, AI automation, AV as neural network — speak to the sophistication the market now demands from integrators and consultants.
If you’re in commercial AV and you’re not already thinking about how to position your practice around intelligent collaboration environments, InfoComm 2026 is the moment to get current. Understanding the networked audio infrastructure that platforms like Shure and Cisco depend on — from AV-over-IP to Dante to DSP signal processing — has never been more relevant to the kinds of enterprise projects being awarded today.
Registration and full keynote details for InfoComm 2026 are expected in the coming weeks. The show runs June 13–19 at the Las Vegas Convention Center, with exhibits June 17–19. Mark your calendar.
Sources: Commercial Integrator | AVIXA Press Room | Commercial Integrator
