New Online Training For Integrators Plus AWE Expo 2026 Highlights

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The smart home world is moving faster than most teams can keep up with, creating a real risk for integrators: higher expectations, tighter margins, and less tolerance for messy installs. We dig into AWE’s announcement of the AWE Smart Home Academy, a new online training programme built for the custom installation and electrical retail sectors. With launch courses spanning audio and video, lighting, and networking, the aim is simple: help working professionals keep up with new tech, deliver cleaner handovers, and compete on quality rather than price.

We also unpack a bigger theme raised at AWE Expo 2026: the CI market is not shrinking; it’s evolving. Convenience and energy efficiency still matter, but the conversation is shifting towards how technology can support wellbeing. That means integrators have to think beyond boxes and apps, blending systems into home design and focusing on outcomes people experience every day, from calmer spaces to more reliable whole-home control, all driven by a solid network foundation.

Then we move into the show-floor highlights, including the upgraded AWE show apartment and a main showroom built around eye-catching display tech and modern audio solutions, including invisible speaker innovations. Home cinema fans get a particular treat: the AWE Reference Cinema has been retuned using Dirac Active Room Treatment (ART), and there’s a projector shootout between top models from Epson, Optoma, and Sony, with the winner revealed only to attendees.

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Transcript

Inside CI News Brief Welcome

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Welcome to the Inside CI News Brief for Wednesday, 1st July 2026, the latest custom installation news in minutes for busy integrators and industry professionals.

AWE Launches Smart Home Academy

SPEAKER_00 0:11

AWE is launching a new online training program for integrators called the AWE Smart Home Academy, designed to help the CI and electrical retail sectors keep pace with rapid changes in consumer expectations and smart home technology. Debuting this summer, the Academy will open with courses covering audio and video, lighting and networking developed by AWE with support from major brands.

Market Shifts And Well Being Focus

SPEAKER_00 0:38

Speaking at the opening of AWE Expo 2026, managing director Stuart Tickle said the market is evolving rather than shrinking, with strong demand for premium experiences and a growing focus on how technology can positively influence health. He emphasized the need for integrators to blend technology seamlessly into home design. The AWE Smart Home Academy has been developed by the AWE team with support from brands. The focus will be squarely on CI and the electrical retail industry. It's going to launch

AWE Expo 2026 And Demo Upgrades

SPEAKER_00 1:13

with courses on audio and video, lighting and networking, explained Malfisher, AWECTO. The times they are a changing, said Tickle, and the industry needs to keep pace with consumer expectations and technological advancements. Competition is intense, overheads are higher, margins are under pressure, but the market isn't disappearing, it's changing. There's still demand for premium experiences, and we believe our role is to help our customers capture those opportunities. One key trend, Tickle noted, is a shift from convenience and energy efficiency to the positive impact of CI on well-being. This year's AWE Expo is expected to host 140 integrators and industry professionals over three days and will showcase an array of new technologies covering all aspects of display, audio, and control. Every room in the AWE show apartment has had some element of upgrades, some more than others, Tickle told Inside CI. This investment represents the biggest evolution of our demo facility since we moved into this building. The newly upgraded main showroom is dominated by a spectacular 165-inch Sony C LED display and now features ray lighting and stealth acoustics audio alongside a Heisense, 116-inch 4KRG B LED TV, the latest wireless LGOLED

Reference Cinema Retune And Shootout

SPEAKER_00 2:43

wallpaper screen, and a 65-inch Sony Bravia 92 TrueRGB TV. Attendees will also experience a variety of audio solutions from Dinon, Marantz, and Bowers and Wilkins in the music room, while the reimagined media room now throws the spotlight on the latest invisible speaker innovations from Stealth Acoustics. Home cinema specialists are also in for a treat. The AWE Reference Cinema has been retuned using Dirac Active Room Treatment ART, and there's an intriguing projector shootout between three top models, the Epson EH-Q, B1000, Optoma UHZ78LV, and Sony Bravia 7VPL-XW5100. Which projector wins? You'll need to attend the 2026 AWE Expo to find out.

Where To Get More Inside CI

SPEAKER_00 3:35

Be sure to pop over to the InsideCI website for all the latest news, reviews, and interviews. Also, be sure to listen to our sister podcast InsideCI Tech Talk for all the latest interviews, discussions, and reviews by our hosts Stuart Burgess and Simon Gregory.