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Executive Summary:
Following the 2026 International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) Conference, Grant Thornton Stax Partner Chen Liu shares five key takeaways on what will distinguish leading providers, including the importance of established customer trust, seamless workflow integration, and demonstrable ROI. His insights highlight how vendors can move beyond AI innovation to drive sustainable adoption and meaningful improvements in public safety operations.
Having attended the annual International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) 2026, one theme emerged: AI has become a central focus of innovation across the public safety technology landscape.
From Axon's AI Era suite, which includes AI-assisted report writing, real-time translation, and officer assistance, to CentralSquare One, which brings AI-powered intelligence into dispatch, records, and investigative workflows, vendors are expanding their AI capabilities.
The value proposition is there. Agencies face a growing number of challenges including staffing shortages, expanding volumes of digital evidence, and limited resources in the face of increasing demands. A main takeaway has been how AI has the potential to reshape how public safety professionals work.
But with seemingly every vendor now offering AI capabilities, what will ultimately distinguish the winners?
Five factors will be particularly important:
1. Trust and Established Relationships Provide a Significant Head Start
Public safety is inherently risk-averse when it comes to mission-critical technology. Agencies cannot afford unreliable solutions, particularly when those solutions influence officer safety or investigative outcomes.
Decision-makers place substantial value on established vendor relationships and proven performance. For example, agencies already relying on Axon's body-worn cameras, and Evidence.com frequently views the company as a natural AI partner—not necessarily because its underlying AI technology is uniquely superior, but because of confidence in its broader reliability.
This creates an advantage for established platforms with strong customer satisfaction and trust, which have spent years building relationships and embedding themselves in agency workflows.
In public safety, the best technology will not always win; agencies need confidence in the provider delivering it.
2. Broad Data Access Is Valuable, but Integration Into Natural Workflows Is Equally Critical
One of the most common themes at IACP was the emergence of AI platforms that promise to connect and analyze data across an agency's disparate systems. Versaterm Vantage offers vendor-agnostic data integration and natural-language analytics, while Peregrine connects information across agency systems to surface relationships and investigative insights. Similarly, Cellebrite Genesis enables investigators to analyze digital evidence from multiple sources.
This is a compelling proposition. Public safety information is often fragmented across CAD/RMS, digital evidence management solutions, phone and device extracts, etc. AI has the potential to bring these datasets together and uncover insights that might otherwise be missed.
However, access to more data does not automatically translate into a better product experience. Equally important is whether AI fits naturally into the workflows public safety professionals already perform, making it intuitive and easy to use.
Axon's Draft One provides a compelling example. By generating report narratives directly from body-worn camera audio already stored in Evidence.com, it eliminates manual transfers and embeds AI into an existing officer workflow. Similarly, CentralSquare One aims to surface relevant intelligence from dispatch and records systems directly to personnel responding to an incident, rather than requiring users to navigate separate applications.
These examples highlight the balance vendors must strike: The strongest platforms will combine broad access to relevant data with AI applications that feel like a natural extension of how officers, dispatchers, and investigators already work.
3. Demonstrable ROI Will Determine Which AI Tools Achieve Widespread Adoption
While AI promises improvements in officer safety, investigative effectiveness, and operational performance, measurable productivity improvements may be the clearest near-term catalyst for adoption.
Axon's Draft One can materially reduce the time officers spend preparing reports, with some agencies documenting time savings of 50% or more. One police chief estimated approximately 30 minutes on average are saved per report, freeing officers to spend more time on proactive policing and community engagement.
Investigative AI presents a similar opportunity. Tools like Cellebrite Genesis can help investigators analyze thousands of records and identify connections that might otherwise require extensive manual effort.
These examples illustrate an important distinction between compelling technology and compelling economics. Over time, metrics such as case clearance, improved response effectiveness, and officer safety may become equally important, but time savings offer an especially tangible starting point, particularly in an environment where staffing remains a critical constraint.
The vendors that can consistently demonstrate measurable, net productivity gains (and translate those gains into operational value) will be best positioned to convert AI interest into sustainable adoption.
4. Safeguards, Transparency, and Human Oversight Are Non-Negotiable
The stakes for AI are uniquely high in public safety. Incorrect or unsupported conclusions can compromise investigations and undermine public trust.
Even enthusiastic AI adopters remain concerned about accuracy and accountability. For example, digital forensic investigators emphasize the need to independently verify AI-generated findings against original evidence rather than simply accepting suggested connections or conclusions.
Vendors are responding with increasingly sophisticated safeguards. Peregrine's Assistant for Investigations emphasizes traceability to underlying evidence and permission-based data access, while Cellebrite Genesis links investigative findings to their original sources. Axon's Draft One similarly requires officers to review and approve generated narratives before submission, often inserting specific checks to ensure that the review is occurring.
Beyond source verification, agencies need strong controls over which data AI can access, how information is scoped to a particular case or incident, and how outputs are reviewed and audited.
Several agencies have also implemented additional procedures requiring officers to actively validate AI-generated reports, rather than simply approving them without meaningful review.
The goal is not to replace human judgment, but to make it faster, better informed, and more defensible. Vendors that treat safeguards as foundational product capabilities rather than afterthoughts will have a meaningful advantage.
5. Customer Success and Implementation Will be Critical to Realizing AI's Potential
Perhaps the most underappreciated differentiator is what happens after the technology is purchased. Even when an AI tool demonstrates meaningful potential, deployment can be slowed by integration challenges or resistance from prosecutors and other stakeholders.
Some agencies have purchased AI-assisted capabilities but delayed broader deployment because prosecutors and courts were not yet comfortable with AI's role in preparing police reports. Their challenge wasn't primarily technical, but this interaction highlights the need for confidence across the broader justice ecosystem.
Successful vendors must therefore do more than implement software. They need to help agencies align workflows, train personnel, establish governance, engage stakeholders, and measure realized benefits.
Ultimately, the value of AI isn't realized when a product is purchased, but when an agency changes how it operates. Customer success will be essential to making that transition.
What Is the Future for Public Safety?
IACP 2026 reinforced that AI will be a force in the evolution of public safety technology. But the market is still in its early stages, and launching AI features is rapidly becoming less of a differentiator.
The next phase of competition will center on which platforms can move beyond promising demonstrations to deliver trusted, repeatable, and measurable value.
Established vendors have meaningful advantages through customer relationships and embedded workflows, while newer entrants have opportunities to win through differentiated capabilities, interoperability, and superior execution.
Ultimately, the winners won't necessarily be the companies with the most sophisticated AI models. They'll be the ones that best combine trust, connected workflows, demonstrable ROI, rigorous safeguards, and the ability to help agencies turn innovation into real operational impact.
About Grant Thornton Stax
With unmatched software expertise across Infrastructure & Cybersecurity, Horizontal Enterprise Applications, Public Safety & Security, and AI, Grant Thornton Stax delivers proprietary data-backed diligence and value creation—rooted in 15+ years and 1,000+ tracked assets. Our global team provides specialized insights across the investment lifecycle to create long-term value and drive successful exits. Click here to learn more about our Software & Technology expertise or contact us directly.
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