This week I went to my first in-person conference in a long time: Connections by Parks Associates in Frisco, Texas. The whole event was focused on smart home “connections” — networking, how home automation actually works behind the scenes, and where the industry thinks it’s headed. I was there to network (I was the only one from Nabu Casa), but I ended up learning a ton from the sessions and conversations with companies like Comcast, Netgear/Lutron, and more. My biggest takeaway is that the industry is trying to shift the language from “smart products” to “connected devices,” and honestly, that tracks. Just being able to open an app and toggle a light doesn’t make your home smart — automation does. And the next step beyond basic schedules is a home that reacts to what’s actually happening day-to-day, which is where AI/ML will inevitably collide with smart homes. The problem is: doing that well requires context, sensors, and local understanding, not just dumping everything into the cloud. I also heard a lot of buzz around “interoperability,” but most companies still mean “my platform talks to your devices,” not true two-way openness. If everyone is building a platform, then no one is building a platform — they’re building silos. For me, the answer is still one hub that can talk to everything, and right now that’s Home Assistant. I even brought a Home Assistant Yellow to show off, and people were genuinely curious about why a local-first hub matters.