Your humble editor had the opportunity to sit down with Kristian Jenkins, co-CEO of Casambi, during Light + Building in Frankfurt as part of our EdisonReport studio interview series. Casambi has become one of the most widely discussed wireless lighting control platforms in the industry, so I wanted to hear directly from Kristian about where the technology is headed and how the company sees the future of lighting controls.
The Vision: Delivering the Best Lighting Experience
When I asked Kristian about Casambi’s long-term vision, he didn’t begin with technical specifications or protocols. Instead, he framed the company’s mission around the user experience.
“Our vision is enabling the best lighting experience ever,” Kristian explained.
Lighting controls today exist in several forms. Systems can be wired, wireless, or a combination of both. But for Casambi, the real question is not which technology is theoretically superior. The real question is how easily the system delivers the lighting experience the client wants.
That philosophy explains why the company entered the market with a wireless-first approach.
Why Wireless Controls Are Growing
I asked Kristian what he sees as the biggest advantage of wireless lighting controls. His answer came down to simplicity.
“For many years lighting controls were seen as complex and cumbersome,” he said. “You had specialized control cabling, centralized racks, processors, and system integrators coordinating everything.”
Anyone who has worked on a large lighting project understands the challenge. Traditional wired control systems often require extensive infrastructure. That can include dedicated conduit runs, control cabinets, processors, and specialized commissioning.
Wireless systems approach the problem differently.
“We can drastically reduce the amount of equipment that goes into a project,” Kristian said. “You eliminate racks, processors, and much of the cabling.”
The impact on a project can be significant. Fewer materials are required, installation becomes faster, and the building can often be commissioned and handed over to the client much more quickly.
Less hardware also means fewer dependencies between trades on the construction site.
Not Just Wireless
Despite its reputation as a wireless pioneer, Casambi is not positioning itself as exclusively wireless. Kristian was clear that the company recognizes situations where wired controls remain appropriate.
“We originally came to the market from the wireless angle,” he said. “But as the market progresses, there are use cases for both wired and wireless solutions.”
Casambi’s role, he explained, is not to dictate how a system should be built. “Our goal is to make it as easy as possible to create the right lighting for a space,” Kristian said.
That means helping designers and integrators determine which approach works best for the project.
The Mesh Network Advantage
Wireless systems historically faced questions about reliability, especially in large commercial buildings. Casambi addressed that challenge with a mesh network architecture.
In a mesh network, every device communicates with other devices in the system. Each luminaire becomes part of the communication network. Kristian explained that this architecture actually strengthens the system as more fixtures are added. “The more devices you have, the stronger the mesh becomes,” he said.
Instead of relying on a single central processor, intelligence is distributed throughout the network. That eliminates single points of failure and improves reliability across larger installations.
An Open Platform Strategy
Another key element of Casambi’s approach is openness. Rather than building a closed ecosystem of hardware products, Casambi focuses on software and enabling technology. Kristian explained that many manufacturers integrate Casambi technology directly into their luminaires and control devices.
“What we’re really strong at is the software and the technology enablement,” he said. That approach allows designers to combine products from multiple manufacturers within the same lighting control platform.
For specifiers and integrators, that flexibility can be extremely valuable because it avoids locking projects into a single vendor’s product family.
Sustainability Benefits
Wireless lighting controls also bring sustainability advantages. Because the systems eliminate large amounts of control wiring and infrastructure, they reduce the materials required during construction.
Kristian described a recent analysis the company conducted on a commercial office project. By switching from a wired control system to a wireless architecture, the project significantly reduced the amount of material required for installation.
“In that single project we calculated hundreds of trees saved simply by reducing the materials going into the building,” he said.
The exact numbers vary depending on the project size, but the principle remains the same. Less wiring, fewer components, and simpler installations reduce the environmental footprint of the building.
Turning Data into Value
As with many companies exhibiting at Light + Building, Casambi is also focused on the growing role of data in connected lighting systems. Modern lighting networks can generate large amounts of information about building performance.
The challenge now is determining how that data can create meaningful value. “If you walk around Light + Building you see a lot of talk about connected buildings and data,” Kristian said. “But the key question is what you actually do with that data.”
Energy management is one obvious application. Lighting systems can provide detailed information about how energy is used throughout a building.
But Kristian believes the real opportunity lies in analyzing that information over time. Artificial intelligence tools can examine historical building data and help identify opportunities to improve performance and reduce energy consumption.
“That’s where we start to see the real value,” he said.
A Global Stage for Lighting Innovation
As our conversation wrapped up, Kristian reflected on the scale of the show itself.
Light + Building remains one of the most important gatherings in the global lighting industry. Walking the exhibition halls provides a clear picture of how quickly technology is evolving. For Casambi, one example stood out during the event.
At the WAC Lighting booth, the entire installation was powered by Casambi technology, integrating DMX, track lighting, and architectural fixtures into a unified wireless control system. Kristian described that type of installation as a good example of how wireless controls can serve as the “glue” connecting different lighting technologies.
For a company focused on simplifying lighting control while enabling greater flexibility for designers, that role fits perfectly.
And judging by the growing attention wireless controls are receiving across the show floor in Frankfurt, the industry appears increasingly ready to embrace that approach.