Elevated Luxury, Seamless Shading Control: Somfy Announces Certified Integration with Josh.ai Ecosystem

For those working in luxury residential, the pairing between Somfy and Josh.ai just makes sense. Motorized shading has become a core part of fully connected homes, and Josh.ai is a platform that high-end clients increasingly expect to see. Bringing the two together through a dedicated, certified driver means fewer workarounds and a more reliable end result.

The foundation of the integration is Somfy's Power over Ethernet (PoE) motor lineup. Running both power and network data over a single Ethernet cable, PoE motors sidestep the need for high-voltage wiring — which in practice means a licensed electrician is not required for that portion of the installation. For larger projects especially, that's a meaningful savings in both time and cost. Alex Capecelatro, CEO of Josh.ai, sees PoE as more than just a convenience. "PoE is a fundamentally better approach for professional systems,” he explains. “It’s more dependable, easier to install, and designed to scale."

The certified driver itself was built with installation efficiency in mind. Automatic motor discovery, network auto-recovery if a device ever drops off the network, and preset positioning are all included, so setup doesn't require time-consuming manual configuration.

Less time wrestling with settings on site means more time to spend on other parts of the job. "From a commissioning standpoint, discovery of the shades is quick and immediately recognizes the device as a shade, ready to be added to an area thereby reducing manual input and saving valuable time on site,” said Maryellen Oswald, Partnerships Business Development Manager at Somfy Systems. “The commissioning experience reflects our commitment to making things easier and more intuitive for integrators.”

Once everything is up and running, clients get the kind of experience that justifies their investment. Through Josh.ai's voice, touch, or text controls, homeowners can easily run scenes like "Movie Night", for example, where the shades come down and lights are dimmed automatically. They can also create schedules that protect artwork and furnishings from UV exposure during the day or enable away modes that keep the home looking occupied while out of town.

The partnership between Josh.ai and Somfy is a win-win: The integrator gets a clean, stable system and the client gets an intuitive one. As Capecelatro puts it, "Josh.ai unifies the experience across the home, and together with Somfy, we're creating a more seamless, reliable solution for integrators and a more intuitive home for clients."

Oswald echoes that vision from the integrator's perspective, saying, "This integration is a really exciting step forward in how natural and responsive the connected home can feel. By bringing our Sonesse PoE motors into the Josh.ai platform, we're making it easier for integrators to deliver a more intuitive experience through voice, app, and remote control — where real-time actions just happen the way they should.”

“It's all about giving our partners a smarter, more scalable way to create elevated living environments for their clients,” says Maryellen. “That’s what Somfy is all about and that’s what we’re delivering."

This Josh.ai driver is the first in a series of integrations Somfy is developing for the custom channel, with more partnerships in the pipeline.

To learn more about this integration, or to inquire about other ones, connect with Maryellen Oswald.

Or, sign up for our newsletter and get the latest news from Somfy.