ZKTeco’s journey of constant transformation, resilience, and innovation continues as the company forays into new frontiers beyond the traditional realm of biometrics-based access control. ZKTeco remains a company that moves quickly when new opportunities arise.
As every year, though, Security 50 offers major security players such as ZKTeco the opportunity to look both ways—ahead and back—to see where they’re standing. For ZKTeco, the sponsor of this year’s Tech Trends Maturity and Suitability Index Survey, the past two decades have been as eventful as they were successful.
“We began as a pioneer in biometric identification, and today, we are a global technology company leading the convergence of biometrics, AIoT, and cognitive computing,” says Swift Wu, General Manager of ZKTeco Business Group.
2025, however, has been a turning point for the industry as a whole, driven by technological innovation centered on AI, bringing about new opportunities in many areas. For ZKTeco, the most meaningful trends were the convergence of physical and digital security, and security moving beyond the boundaries of its traditional realm.
“Technologies once considered niche—such as biometrics, AI analytics, and IoT integration—have become essential infrastructure,” Wu stated, adding that technology-driven expansion beyond security was one of the main market drivers in 2025.
“Over the past year, the global market has shown strong momentum in smart access, digital identity authentication, and AIoT-driven operational intelligence, indicating that the industry’s growth is now driven by intelligence, not merely by hardware,” Wu says.
With three core principles toward future success
To set itself up for success, ZKTeco has put three core principles at the center of its operations—innovation, trust, and respect.
“Innovation has always been the engine of our growth,” Wu says. “Trust defines our relationship with partners. Respect reflects how we treat our partners, employees, and communities.”
“As we expand beyond traditional access control into smart offices, smart spaces, digital identity systems, and brain-computer interface applications, we are inviting customers to join us on a journey — one that redefines how humans interact with technology,” he adds. “For partners and distributors, this expansion means greater opportunity — a broader portfolio, stronger margins, and alignment with the next wave of security innovation. For end users, it means solutions that are more adaptive, seamless, and intuitive.”
For 2026, Wu sees several converging trends—AI-driven multimodal biometrics, cloud-edge integration and the emergence of emotional and cognitive intelligence. With a proactive approach, ZKTeco sees itself as ahead of the curve in innovation and expansion.
Expansion underway
ZKTeco has a balanced global footprint across both mature and emerging markets, uniting several leading brands under one roof. Forays into new technologies are based on a global network of hubs, which the company is continuing to expand, reflecting its great ambitions.
In the US, it has an upcoming manufacturing and R&D center, which Wu says “will address demand through localized production and innovation tailored to regulatory standards such as data residency and origin certification.”
In Saudi Arabia, a new ZKTeco manufacturing hub is under construction—“designed to serve as a regional engine for rapid customization and delivery.”
In Southeast Asia—“one of our most dynamic markets”—it runs a supply chain base, focused on deepening ZKTeco’s presence in smart offices, SaaS-based security, and SME solutions. New sites in Brazil, South Africa and Egypt are also being built.
“Local production plus local service equals global trust,” Wu says.
Rethinking technology
ZKTeco’s strategy of global expansion is backed by a vision of deeper integration. Best known for access control terminals with a strong biometrics backbone, ZKTeco is rethinking what its technology can do—not merely as a means to keeping unauthorized persons out of a building, for example, but as central nodes of cognitive systems that integrate a wide variety of IoT functionalities and create actionable insights for operators. With this holistic vision, ZKTeco seeks to stand out in a crowded market.
“The access control market today is more competitive than ever—and that is precisely what makes it exciting. While many companies compete on price or hardware, ZKTeco differentiates itself by integrating intelligence, design, and experience into everything we build,” Wu explains. “Our approach blends cutting-edge engineering with human-centric design, turning access control into a gateway for broader digital transformation.”
With recently released solutions—such as the MarsLume AI and RS3 platforms enabling AI cognition and orchestrating IoT responses across a wide variety of scenarios, or the all-integrated Zophon-S1000 access control module—ZKTeco responds to the ever-growing needs of its customers and partners. The purpose of technology, after all, is to solve real-world problems.
“ZKTeco’s brand is defined by a powerful duality—we are both a technology innovator and a human-centered enabler. Over the years, as the security industry has evolved from physical protection to digital intelligence, ZKTeco’s identity has remained grounded in one enduring belief: technology must serve humanity, not the other way around,” he says. “In 2025 and beyond, we see ZKTeco not just as a manufacturer, but as a creator of ecosystems. Our technologies—biometrics, AIoT, cloud-edge systems, and soon brain-computer interfaces—are all interconnected under one guiding vision: to empower organizations and individuals to live and work securely, intelligently, and confidently in a rapidly changing world.”
With the move from insular solutions to integrated ecosystems, the stakes of handling sensitive data rise significantly.
“In the biometric and identity industry, where technology interacts directly with personal data, maintaining trust is not optional — it is existential,” Wu states. “We believe trust must be earned continuously through transparency, compliance, and value creation.”
“Ultimately, our goal is to move beyond traditional security into intelligent, empathetic technology that enhances daily life,” Wu says. “We believe the next revolution in security isn’t just about protection—it’s about understanding people and creating a future where technology and humanity coexist harmoniously.”
Personal mission
For Wu, this vision isn’t just a corporate strategy—it’s a personal mission. By embedding trust and empathy into every system, he sees ZKTeco not merely as a technology provider, but as a partner that can inspire confidence, respect, and emotional engagement for its customers and employees alike.
“On a personal level, my aspiration is to lead ZKTeco into becoming a company that is both respected and loved—admired for its technological innovation and trusted for its integrity. I believe the future of leadership lies in emotional intelligence—the ability to inspire people, not just manage them,” Wu adds. “By 2026, I hope to see ZKTeco stand as a symbol of what modern technology companies should be: globally responsible, locally rooted, emotionally intelligent, and endlessly innovative. We are not just shaping the future of access control—we are building the architecture of intelligent life itself.”
For more information about ZKTeco, please visit
https://www.zkteco.com.