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How Robotics and AI Will Reshape U.S. Security in 2025

By April 8, 2025No Comments6 min read

The Security Landscape Is Shifting. Fast.

I’ve spent more than 30 years in the security industry—through the fall of communism, the rise of radical terrorism, economic booms and busts, the growth of domestic extremism, and even a global pandemic. I’ve seen threat landscapes evolve, reshape, and resurface in different forms. Managing risk has never been easy—but I can say with confidence: 2025 won’t look like the years before it.

According to Allied Universal’s Global Risk Report 2025—and echoed in the World Economic Forum’s Global Risks Report—we are entering a period of compounded risks: rising polarization, misinformation, institutional distrust, and converging cyber-physical threats. Civil unrest, economic volatility, and executive targeting are no longer outliers—they’re becoming the norm.

If you’re a Chief Security Officer, public safety leader, or someone charged with safeguarding people and infrastructure, the question is no longer if you should adopt new tools. It’s how fast you can.

“The intersection of geopolitical, environmental, and technological threats has created a uniquely volatile risk environment in 2025.” — World Economic Forum, Global Risks Report 2025

At the same time, Ernst & Young’s 2025 Global Economic Outlook reminds us that slowing global growth and persistent labor shortages will challenge public and private institutions alike. As debt levels rise and government response capabilities become more limited, organizations will need to take greater responsibility for their own risk mitigation.

“With less fiscal space to respond to future shocks, resilience will increasingly depend on strategic investment at the organizational level.”— EY Global Economic Outlook, 2025

This makes the case even stronger: leaders can no longer afford to rely solely on traditional security models. The next wave of resilience will be built on technology—especially automation, AI, and robotics.

Threats Are Multiplying, But So Are the Tools to Defend Against Them

Let’s start with reality: traditional security models—passive CCTV systems, on-foot patrols, and siloed alarm response—are being outpaced by the sophistication and speed of modern threats.

In 2024 alone:

  • Over 60% of U.S. security firms reported staffing shortages (CSO, October 2023).
  • False alarms accounted for 90-95% of police dispatches in urban areas (US Department of Justice).
  • Executive targeting incidents—like the attack on UnitedHealth’s CEO—highlighted a disturbing rise in ideologically motivated violence (AUS Report, 2025).

Add to this the threats flagged in the WEF report: climate-related disruptions, cyberattacks on critical infrastructure, and public distrust in traditional institutions. These stressors are stretching public and private security systems to the limit. As EY notes, with governments constrained in their ability to respond to emerging crises, the burden of preparedness will increasingly fall on private organizations. 

But where risk rises, innovation follows.

Ground-based robotics and aerial drones, guided by advanced AI, are now being integrated into modern security operations. These aren’t science fiction ideas; they’re operational realities for security innovators in both the public and private sectors.

Drones and Robots: The New Frontier of Active Security

Unlike fixed cameras or static alarms, drones and robots provide mobility, persistence, and perspective. Here’s what that means in practice:

  • Advanced Situational Awareness: Aerial drones can reach rooftops, large campuses, or high-risk zones in seconds, streaming real-time video and thermal imaging to the security operation center (SOC) teams.
  • Automated Patrols: Ground robots like quadrupeds and wheeled platforms can perform regular perimeter sweeps, freeing up human guards for higher-value tasks.
  • Incident Verification: Robotic systems can rapidly verify alarms, reducing false dispatches and accelerating real emergency responses.
  • Post-Incident Intelligence: Unlike humans who rely on memory, these systems record everything—creating an audit trail of incidents.

As FAA policy continues to evolve, the real game-changer is Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) operations. The FAA’s UAS BVLOS ARC Final Report (2022) laid the groundwork, and companies like Asylon and others are now operating with special waivers that allow for remote drone operations without on-site visual observers.

This means a drone launched in Dallas can be piloted, monitored, and redeployed from a SOC in Philadelphia—safely and legally. For CSOs managing multiple facilities, this kind of centralized control will soon become indispensable.

“The evolution of FAA drone policy is not just regulatory—it’s revolutionary. Business leaders should be planning now for remote operations as a baseline capability.”
 — FAA UAS Integration Office 

AI Is the Brain. Robotics Are the Eyes, Ears, and Feet.

Artificial intelligence—particularly machine learning and, increasingly, generative AI—is becoming a force multiplier.

  • Computer vision algorithms help drones and robots recognize vehicles, people, and unusual motion patterns.
  • Generative AI can synthesize reports, summarize incident logs, and even simulate risk scenarios for tabletop planning.
  • AI threat modeling tools are predicting criminal behavior patterns before they occur by analyzing historical data and behavioral signals.

But let’s be clear: these tools are not replacing the human security operator. They’re elevating them. Just as fighter pilots evolved into drone commanders, security guards are becoming security technologists— creating a highly skilled position managing fleets of automated systems and making faster, smarter decisions with AI-enhanced intelligence.

Operationalizing Robotics: The Silent Struggle No One Talks About

There’s a dirty little secret in the robotics industry: hardware and software are only half the battle.

Deploying a robot or drone may sound easy—but many organizations have learned the hard way that it’s anything but. Some have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on hardware, only to watch it collect dust on a shelf. Operationalizing these systems—programming routes, ensuring reliable navigation, integrating with SOPs, maintaining FAA compliance, and keeping them running in all weather conditions—is where most security programs stumble. But this is where companies like Asylon stand out. The Asylon DroneDog (a quadruped robot with cameras and sensors) and Guardian aerial drone system come bundled with the services that matter: FAA waiver management, 24/7 remote piloting from a certified Robotic Security Operations Center (RSOC), system maintenance, and integration into existing alarm and VMS systems.

That’s not just buying a product—that’s acquiring a security outcome.

“Robots are easy to demo. They’re hard to keep running. Asylon makes them operational—from day one and beyond.” – Brent McLaughlin, Co-Founder and COO

What Should Security Leaders Be Doing Now?

If you’re responsible for securing people, assets, or infrastructure in 2025, consider this a playbook:

  • Study the Data: Read the Allied Universal and WEF Global Risks Report. Know the trends.
  • Audit Your Gaps: Where are you passive? Where are response times lagging?
  • Run a Pilot: Test drones or robots in live conditions. Focus on the workflow, not just the tech.
  • Push for Remote Operations: Work with partners already FAA-compliant and remotely capable.
  • Upskill Your Team: Transition guards into data-centric operators and decision-makers.

Closing Thought: The Future Will Not Wait

The WEF calls this a time of “polycrisis”—intersecting risks compounding one another. In this environment, the difference between vulnerable and resilient will be how smart and agile your security operation is.  In 2025, the difference between vulnerable and secure won’t just be staffing levels or the number of cameras on a pole. It will be how smart, agile, and proactive your security operation has become.

AI, drones, and robotics aren’t emerging anymore. They’re operational. The leaders who adopt them now won’t just respond to the future—they’ll help define it.

If you’re ready to see what operationalized robotic security looks like, book a demo with a provider who’s already done it.

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