Smart Home Technology Meets Professional Installation: Brilliant's Strategic Pivot Drives Market Expansion

Written by:

Steve Marcinuk

Date:

08 Sep 2025

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The smart home technology sector is experiencing a fundamental shift as companies move beyond DIY solutions toward professional installation models. This change reflects growing consumer demand for integrated systems that deliver seamless experiences without the complexity traditionally associated with home automation.

Dan Ross, VP at Brilliant, has been at the forefront of this shift since joining the company earlier this year. With nearly two decades of experience in residential technology, including leadership roles at Savant Systems and Race Point Energy, Ross brings deep industry knowledge to Brilliant’s strategic repositioning.

“Business is done in the customer’s office and not necessarily over the phone or via email,” Ross explains, describing his hands-on approach to market development. “We’ve been hyper-focused on being in the field, going out and getting in front of these customers, doing different technology events and real estate or builder shows, multifamily events.”

Professional Channel Strategy Gains Momentum

Brilliant’s move toward professional installation channels is yielding significant results. The company is targeting three primary segments: low voltage integrators focused on audio, video, lighting and climate control; security dealers building smart home offerings on top of monitoring services; and electrical contractors seeking to expand beyond traditional wiring services.

“What we have seen as we look at our customers and the success of our customers is that there’s a lot of electrical contractors, or general contractors, real estate developers that are carrying electrical licenses, that are really moving this product well,” Ross notes.

The electrical channel represents a particularly strong opportunity. “If we look at the electrical channel, it’s at least 10 times larger, maybe 20 times larger than the low voltage channel in terms of number of companies that are installing these types of products,” Ross explains.

This expansion aligns with broader industry trends as electrical contractors evolve their business models. “There’s this new generation of electrician coming to market, which is the sons and daughters of the previous electricians, saying ‘Hey, we should really be doing more than just Romex. We should be introducing smart products, smart lighting and our solutions into that home, instead of just offering the wiring.'”

Technology Integration and AI Development

Brilliant’s second-generation products incorporate AI-based processors, positioning the company at the intersection of smart home automation and artificial intelligence. While still developing specific AI applications, Ross outlines the potential: “The primary reason is to make recommendations back to the homeowner of different things they can use, and to start understanding their life cycle in the home, when they came home, when they leave, if kids are in the home, who’s using what, when are they using it.”

This AI integration extends beyond basic automation to health and wellness applications. Ross describes potential circadian lighting recommendations: “AI making that recommendation of ‘hey, do you know if you drop the temperature down to 2000 Kelvin starting at 7pm you may be able to sleep better at night, or if you’re struggling to get up and get going in the morning, moving your Kelvin temperature to a much higher mark, four or 5000 in the morning, for that really bright light temperature to get the serotonin and dopamine going.'”

Data privacy remains a critical consideration as AI capabilities expand. “The biggest thing is around the data and data privacy,” Ross emphasizes. “Brilliant obviously does not sell or offer any of their data information to the outside world. We have to alleviate that concern with the client right away.”

Multifamily Market Success

The multifamily sector has emerged as a key growth driver for Brilliant, with the company’s Command Center software providing significant value to property managers and developers. A recent project with ZD Jasper Realty, a New York-based multifamily developer, demonstrates the technology’s impact on modern luxury buildings.

“The reason why this developer uses us in all their projects is not only the sense in the field is more luxury because there’s this integrated smart home solution that comes with the apartment, but for the property management team, there’s a lot of cost savings,” Ross explains.

The Command Center integrates with major property management platforms including Stratus, Entrata, RealPage, and Smart Rent, enabling comprehensive building oversight. “We integrate directly into their software with our brilliant command center, which allows the property management and the service team of the building to view all the properties simultaneously,” Ross notes.

Asset protection capabilities prove particularly valuable in high-rise environments. “One leak on the 35th floor can cause a whole lot of problems for a building,” Ross points out. Brilliant’s integration with Honeywell leak detection devices provides fleet management and immediate notifications to property management, service teams, and tenants.

The software streamlines tenant transitions through automated device management. “They can simply take somebody’s email off, say it’s unit three. So Mr. Smith is no longer here, so we’re going to delete that individual’s email address. It’s going to automatically log them off of all the smart devices in that unit,” Ross explains. “Mr. Johnston moves in in two weeks. They’re just going to put his email address, hit update, and it’s going to automatically create him as the user on all the smart devices in that unit.”

Expanding Market Applications

Beyond traditional multifamily properties, Brilliant is finding success across diverse real estate sectors. Build-to-rent communities represent a growing opportunity, with the company pursuing projects involving thousands of homes in the Southwest and Arizona markets.

“The nice thing, what they really liked about us is we’ll bring that brilliant command center technology that we use for multifamily into the build to rent community,” Ross explains. “They can use that same functionality now for single family homes, not just multifamily properties.”

Student housing presents another market segment, though Ross notes some headwinds: “There’s some market softness in the student housing industry. People are spending less, and what you’re seeing is a reduction in overall spend into student housing buildings, which tends to eliminate technology as one of the first things to go.”

Short-term rental properties offer compelling applications for Brilliant’s user management capabilities. “We’re working on a big project spotlight currently, a large Airbnb rollout with brilliant in all the Airbnbs for the same reason,” Ross reveals. “With guest turnover, you just jump into an application on your phone or a web browser and you just say, ‘Okay, Mr. Jones is checking out Friday at 4pm.’ Let me swap their email out, put the new customer’s email, and they walk into that Airbnb. It’s their stuff.”

Product Innovation and Market Expansion

Looking ahead, Brilliant is preparing significant product announcements for the CEDIA conference in Denver. The company plans to introduce its Command Center software to single-family residential markets, enabling integrators and electrical contractors to monitor multiple installations remotely.

“Now not just developers, but integrators and professional companies can use this software to monitor all of their different brilliant homes,” Ross explains. “If something is offline, they can just go to the web browser and reset it, no need to roll a truck.”

Perhaps more significantly, Brilliant will launch its Power over Ethernet product line, expanding beyond electrical installation to low voltage applications. “We’ve been an electrically installed product since our inception, and we are finally bringing that out to a low voltage product as well,” Ross notes.

This development opens possibilities for installation flexibility and design integration. “The PoE product will really open up the business for us further in the production builder community, where it’s much easier just to drop a quick Ethernet cable during construction, and certainly the luxury space, where people really want these panels at eye height for more of a custom design perspective.”

Market Outlook and Growth Strategy

Ross’s field-focused approach is generating measurable results in dealer acquisition and market penetration. “Our dealer acquisition rate is already starting to spike just after a month or two,” he reports. “I expect both in terms of the number of customers that are supporting, marketing and selling our product is going to scale up significantly, which in turn will relate to revenue on the backside.”

The company’s growth strategy emphasizes direct engagement with installation professionals across multiple channels. By simplifying installation processes while maintaining comprehensive functionality, Brilliant is positioning itself to capture market share as the smart home industry matures beyond DIY solutions toward professional integration.

For real estate developers, property managers, and installation professionals, Brilliant’s evolution represents a significant opportunity to deliver integrated smart home experiences without the complexity and cost traditionally associated with comprehensive automation systems. As the market continues to demand seamless technology integration, companies that can bridge professional installation expertise with user-friendly systems are well-positioned for sustained growth.