Hikvision Launches Hik-Connect 7 with HIKO AI: Plain-Language Search and Smart Alerts, No New Hardware
On 29 September 2026, Hikvision released Hik-Connect 7, the new version of its cloud app and portal for managing CCTV systems. It adds HIKO, a cloud-based AI engine, and a redesigned interface. According to the press release Hikvision issued through PR Newswire, the update is rolling out globally as a software update to the existing app and portal, with no separate HIKO hardware to buy or install.
In short, Hik-Connect 7 adds plain-language search of recorded video, alert rules you write as a sentence instead of picking from a list, and a daily summary for each camera channel. Because it is a software update for devices already connected to Hik-Connect, Saudi sites running Hikvision cameras and NVRs can use it after a review of user permissions and data policy, not after a hardware swap. For AZEIDK’s CCTV offering, see security and surveillance systems.
Key takeaways
- Release date: 29 September 2026, announced by Hikvision from Hangzhou.
- HIKO runs in the cloud and needs no additional hardware.
- The update covers both Team Mode and Personal Mode users and applies to devices already connected to Hik-Connect.
- Three areas: AI Guardian for alerts, AI Search for investigations, and AI Assistant for setup from a single instruction.
- On 8 September 2026, Hikvision said HIKO is also coming to HikCentral Professional.
What is new in Hik-Connect 7?
The release groups the update into three experiences. The first is AI Guardian, with four functions:
- Focus: add a known vehicle as a target, set a time and place, and the system links its footage across cameras into an ordered timeline with a written summary.
- AI Notification: describe the alert condition in a plain sentence instead of choosing a fixed alarm type. Hikvision’s example is “alert me if someone falls and doesn’t get back up.”
- AI Deterrence: tiered responses, from a standard warning up to one that calls out the person or vehicle by appearance and location.
- AI Summary: a daily overview per channel of the people, vehicles and alerts from the last 24 hours.
The second is AI Search. Video Q&A answers a direct question about a scene so staff do not have to scrub through hours of footage, and Fusion Search combines video, access control and licence plate data to show where a person has been. The third is the AI Assistant, which carries out multi-step setup from one natural-language instruction, such as arranging visitor access for a specific vehicle.
Hikvision’s Hik-Connect product manager said the aim is for the system to understand what users need and find the answer itself. The release gives no pricing, no list of supported models and no regional exceptions.
HIKO, HikCentral Professional and the Guanlan models
Three weeks earlier, on 8 September 2026, Hikvision published a release on its Guanlan AI models. It said HIKO is arriving on the HikCentral Professional platform as well as the Hik-Connect app, with the same three roles. In the same release Hikvision states that DeepinViewX cameras running the model cut perimeter false alarms by 90%, and that scenario-specific analytics typically reduce false alarms by 70% to 90%. These are the manufacturer’s own figures; the release does not explain how they were measured and gives no date for HIKO on HikCentral Professional.
What does it mean for the Saudi market?
Hikvision cameras and recorders are found on many sites in the Kingdom, from warehouses and residential compounds to retail branches, and Hikvision is among the brands AZEIDK supplies in Saudi Arabia. The practical point here is that the new features are software. A site running Hikvision cameras and NVRs already connected to Hik-Connect may gain natural-language search and smarter alerts without replacing cameras, which changes the cost comparison between a software upgrade and new hardware.
On the other hand, HIKO runs in the cloud, and Fusion Search joins video with access and plate records. Before enabling it, the owner needs a clear decision on what data goes to the cloud, who may search for people and vehicles, and how this fits the Kingdom’s Personal Data Protection Law and the Saudi security surveillance cameras law. On government and sensitive sites, the entity’s own security policy may decide the matter, whatever the feature can do.
The release does not say whether plain-language commands work in Arabic or when the update reaches accounts in the region, so check the app itself before promising any feature to a client.
AZEIDK Expert Take
Before switching on Hik-Connect 7 at an existing site, list the devices connected to the app and their firmware versions, then review user accounts and permissions and close old shared logins. Trial plain-language alerts on one or two channels before rolling them out, so they do not become a new source of nuisance alarms. On government or sensitive sites, put the cloud-processing question to the information security officer before go-live. For multi-branch operations, weigh the app against a central management platform as covered in our article on multi-branch CCTV central monitoring. For a secure mobile setup see our Hik-Connect and DMSS setup guide, and for on-camera versus cloud analytics see AI CCTV cameras. AZEIDK’s security and surveillance team can review an existing system and identify what needs updating.
Sources
- Hikvision introduces new HIKO AI engine to Hik-Connect 7 in a major upgrade which simplifies day-to-day security management, Hikvision via PR Newswire (published on TNGlobal), 29 September 2026
- Guanlan AI Applications: Higher Accuracy, Lower Cost, Smarter Interaction, Hikvision via PR Newswire (published on Kyodo News PR Wire), 8 September 2026
