Sentry Interactive’s Top 10 predicted trends for the evolution of mobile access in 2025

As we approach 2025, the next steps in the evolution of mobile access will be shaped not only by the push for convenience and cost-effectiveness, but by the imperative to safeguard systems against emerging cybersecurity threats.

The past 20 years have witnessed a number of transformative technologies, but few rival the smartphone in terms of its impact on daily life. The smartphone is now an indispensable tool for communication, financial transactions, and accessing services. It has also become central to access control, with the industry moving from magstripe and proximity cards to smartcards to BLE mobile access and, now, NFC mobile credentials.

However, these advancements have brought challenges. The traditional approach to mobile access still revolves around reader upgrades, which are costly and inefficient for building owners and their tenants. Meanwhile, the rapid rise and transition to mobile access control has introduced another challenge: cybersecurity risks.

Here are the top 10 trends we envisage for the direction of mobile access in 2025 and beyond. 

  1. NIST compliance: Mobile access control systems must adhere to NIST compliant cybersecurity standards and adopt robust encryption protocols to protect data transmitted between smartphones, access points, and central management systems.
  1. Sustainability: Increased demand for enterprises to go green and eliminate the endless cycle of plastic waste by reducing plastic credentials.
  1. Open standards for seamless interoperability: Mobile credentials will work with IoT and workplace systems for a fully connected experience.
  1. Smartphone biometric security: Technological improvements in fingerprint and facial recognition will make mobile credentials more secure than ever.
  1. Integration with identity and access management (IAM): Solutions must align with broader IAM frameworks to ensure seamless and secure user authentication.
  1. Zero Trust architecture: A security model that requires continuous verification of identity, device integrity, and network trustworthiness will become a standard for mobile access solutions.
  1. AI-driven analytics: Artificial intelligence will play a critical role in identifying and mitigating potential vulnerabilities and threats in real time.
  1. 5G-powered innovation: Faster authentication and improved user experiences.
  1. Increased cloud-driven control: Manage mobile access remotely with real-time updates and analytics. The move away from centralized server models will mitigate risks associated with single points of failure or breaches.
  1. Mobile access to become ubiquitous: mobile credential access to co-exist alongside physical credential and badges and eventually replace keycards and become the universal access key.

These trends emphasize the need to adopt solutions like readerless mobile NFC credential software that not only offers a seamless transition to mobile and enhances system security, but also provide robust protection against increasingly sophisticated cyber attacks, by using the smartphone as the active reader. Mobile access technologies must not only evolve to deliver greater convenience and efficiency but also adapt to the pressing challenges of cybersecurity. Survival in this digital age requires solutions that are agile, resilient, and secure – characteristics that define the next phase of access control evolution.

The future is mobile, secure, and smarter than ever. Are you ready to unlock it?


Contact us to find out more about readerless mobile credential software implementation and how it can help you keep up with 2025 trends.

William Bainborough

Board of Directors

William is an experienced British entrepreneur, founder, and accomplished board executive and advisor for a number of businesses. He is the CEO and co-founder of Doordeck, the world’s only true cloud-based access control aggregator. He is also the managing director and founder of Group Secure, a leader in providing security, CCTV, and access control solutions, products, and installation for high-net-worth individuals in the UK. 

William established his first business at just seventeen and brings 20-plus years of in-depth experience and industry knowledge. He has a proven track record for building businesses from the ground up—and then leading them to profitability and a successful exit across a myriad of sectors including hospitality, retail, security, telecommunications, and e-commerce. William’s leadership, vision, and experience in creating cutting-edge SaaS-based technology platforms will prove invaluable for Sentry Interactive moving forward.

Denis Hébert

CHAIRMAN & CEO

Hébert began his career at Honeywell International where he held several leadership positions including Managing Director for the Automation and Controls business in France and eventually President of the NexWatch Corporation from 1999-2002. Hébert led HID Global as President & CEO over a transformative 12-year period from 2002-2015, where he provided strategic guidance and grew the business tenfold through a mix of strong organic and acquisitive growth. Most recently, Hébert was President of Feenics Corporation which is a cloud-based access control company that was successfully sold to ACRE LLC at the end of 2021. Hébert also served on the Board of Directors for the Security Industry Association (SIA) from 2009-2020 and was nominated to be Chairman of the Board for SIA from 2016-2018. He is currently Chairman of the Board for Nightingale Security based in Newark, CA.

Stephen Taylor Matthews

Board of Directors
Stephen is a very accomplished attorney, member of the Texas State Bar, licensed commercial real estate broker, and an avid philanthropist. He is an experienced executive board member, serving in leadership positions for more than 20 community councils and corporate boards—ranging from Boy Scouts of America to the ABBA Business Leaders Council, and most recently the American Bank BOD, the Real Estate Council of Austin, and the Marbridge Foundation BOT. With more than 35 years experience, Stephen and his firm, Barrond & Adler, L.L.P. are devoted to eminent domain cases in Texas.

Jon Davis

Board of Directors

Mr. Davis is an Experienced corporate board member, having served on boards of public, private equity-backed, and venture-backed companies. Jon possesses deep industry expertise in dairy, food processing, food technology and manufacturing, and food, beverage, and entertainment services. 

During Jon’s tenure of 25 plus years, he’s led operations, research and development, and mergers and acquisitions. He’s served as CEO and has been the founder and active board member for many successful enterprises—from startups to billion-dollar corporations. While COO and CEO of Davisco Foods International, Jon built a state-of-the-art cheese plant which was awarded the United States Dairy processing plant of the year in 2005 by Dairy Foods magazine. Currently, Jon is active with several non-dairy projects, including investments in local real estate, the Wayzata Brewworks, and his latest venture the new CōV restaurant in Edina’s Galleria.

Joe Caldwell

Founder and Chairman of the Board

Joe is an American entrepreneur, investor, and accomplished executive. He has co-founded, founded, and led many successful businesses, including US Internet, a leading fiber internet service provider, Securence, a leading provider of email filtering software, and Ravon, an industry-leading digital voice communications service. 

It was Joe’s venture, Municipal Parking Services (MPS), that inspired him in 2020 to start Sentry Interactive, an advanced touchless and staffless detection platform.

Caldwell currently serves as CEO and Chairman of the Board for Municipal Parking Services (MPS), a global tech company based in Austin, TX responsible for inventing and patenting technologies that assist in parking and security enforcement.

Joe was named one of Minnesota’s 500 Most Powerful Business Leaders for the past two years—and is a seasoned corporate board member. He’s served on boards of public, private equity-backed, and venture-backed companies—and has deep industry expertise in all aspects of digital technology.

Jason Bohrer

Board of Directors

Jason Bohrer is one of the visionaries behind our mission to bring people back together safely and securely, in any environment, through Sentry’s advanced digital communications and detection platform. With over two decades of senior leadership experience, Jason’s track record of success spans across sales, operations, product innovation, strategy, and technology for domestic and global companies like Bexar Technology Partners, CPI Card Group, HID Global, and Motorola, Inc. Prior to launching Sentry Interactive, Jason was actively involved with several key technology transitions across multiple industries, including the contact and contactless EMV transitions in the U.S. payments industry and the adoption of smart card and mobile technologies in the global access and identity market. Jason was an inaugural member of the University of Chicago Executive Institute and holds a bachelor’s degree in Economics from the University of Texas at Austin. He also serves as the Executive Director for two industry-leading not-for-profit organizations: the Secure Technology Alliance and the U.S. Payments Forum.
Brent Terry

Brent Terry

Chief Operating Officer
Brent Terry leads the operations and solutions organizations at Sentry. This includes all product innovation, development, and operations management. A veteran in the technology space, Brent has more than 30 years of experience across a myriad of industries, like physical security technology and building automation, SAAS, hardware and software product development, internet, digital TV, interactive TV, digital media, telecommunications, and medical products and services. Prior to Sentry, Brent has spun up successful startups and led high-performing teams for some of the biggest global, Fortune 500 companies, including ARRIS, Conerco, Motive Communications, SeaChange International, and IBM. Brent holds a BS in Computer Science from the University of Louisiana. He also is the committee Chairman and Program Director for a non-profit organization responsible for the rollout of smart cards for physicians and first responders.