One of jean laurent’s clients faced an absurd daily challenge: toggling up to 200 individual light switches as he moved throughout his expansive home. The solution was simple—smart lighting that could control entire levels instantly—but convincing the homeowner to embrace it proved more complex. For Laurent, founder of BlueVision, this scenario represents everything wrong with how we think about home technology and everything possible when we embrace more innovative solutions.
“I asked my client if he still used a rotary phone,” Laurent recalls. “Of course he didn’t—he had an iPhone. Maybe using an iPhone was initially intimidating, but then it changed your life. You can do all kinds of stuff on an iPhone that you can’t do on a rotary phone, and soon it’s second nature. That’s the comparison I give people: You don’t have a rotary phone; why would you still want to flip 200 light switches on and off?”
This analogy perfectly captures Laurent’s mission with BlueVision, the luxury home technology company he founded in 2008. More than just installing high-end electronics and entertainment systems, Laurent has made it his personal crusade to help clients overcome their technology fears and discover how smart home solutions can dramatically improve their quality of life.
Laurent’s journey to becoming Atlanta’s go-to expert for luxury home technology wasn’t conventional. Armed with an electrical engineering degree and an MBA, he spent his first 12 years working in IT before getting interested in smart home technology in 2000. “My friend and I decided we wanted to help people create smart homes, so we started a company,” he explains. “It wasn’t easy. We were experts at the technology but not great at marketing and sales.”
Those early years were spent programming elaborate systems for homes and then expanding into commercial, military and government projects. “We learned a lot working for others,” Laurent says. But by 2008, he recognized a gap in the Atlanta market that would define his company’s future. “I realized no company in Atlanta was excelling at installing and servicing elaborate tech systems in luxury homes, so I stopped programming and started BlueVision.”
The decision to focus exclusively on the luxury market was deliberate. “We targeted the biggest, baddest systems out there,” Laurent says. “I decided to really target my market and be the best at what we do.”
Today, BlueVision operates with a clear mission encapsulated in its tagline: “Technology that simplifies your life.” The company installs and services everything from luxury entertainment systems and home theaters to environmental controls, like lighting, thermostats and automated shades. It also handles communication systems, including intercoms, telephones, WiFi networks, and comprehensive security and safety systems.
However, Laurent’s true passion lies not in the complexity of the systems themselves but in making them accessible to clients who have varying technical knowledge. “Some know a lot about technology and what’s possible, and some don’t. Some are comfortable with home automation, and others aren’t,” he observes. “I particularly want to change that and am passionate about educating clients on how learning a little about technology can have massive quality of life benefits.”
The results can be transformative. For example, BlueVision lets clients easily control music, televisions, lighting, shades and thermostats in multiple rooms. “We help people benefit from everything technology has to offer, and we make it simple and reliable,” Laurent says.
What sets BlueVision apart isn’t just technical expertise—it’s the company’s approach to client relationships. With 10 extensively trained and knowledgeable employees, Laurent has cultivated a team culture that prioritizes friendliness and approachability over technical intimidation. “Our team is very friendly; we’re not arrogant, even though we really know what we’re doing,” he emphasizes. “Our clients also say we’re responsive and provide excellent service.”
Laurent holds certifications as a Crestron Master Programmer and is certified for Lutron and Savant programming. But he ensures his entire team maintains cutting-edge expertise through continuous education, training, certifications, and attendance at industry conferences and trade shows. “It’s a big commitment for our company, but it’s the only way we can stay on top of a fast-changing environment,” he explains. “That’s why it’s important for a homeowner to find the right partner that has the expertise today and has the capacity to keep up with it.”
With 25 years of experience in technology, Laurent believes BlueVision is uniquely positioned to guide clients through what he sees as the next major evolution in home technology: artificial intelligence (AI) integration transition. As technology evolves, BlueVision will help clients embrace AI-enhanced home systems while maintaining the simplicity and reliability that define the company’s approach.
“The evolution of AI will have a profound impact on the home environment in the next two or three years,” he predicts. His vision extends beyond current voice control capabilities to true conversational interfaces. “It won’t be long before you’ll be able to have conversations with your house, and your house is going to talk back to you, suggesting things you could do to be more comfortable and energy efficient.”
Increasingly, BlueVision finds itself involved in the early design phases of new construction and major remodels, working closely with interior designers to create what Laurent calls “invisible technologies,” including hidden TVs and seamlessly integrated control systems.
The company maintains a showroom at the Atlanta Decorative Arts Center (ADAC), where clients can experience different types of lighting, automated shades and hidden technologies firsthand. “We try to be friendly to designers and integrate with their vision,” Laurent says. “In the ADAC showroom, homeowners can see how lighting makes everything look better. You may have beautiful furnishings, but bad lighting makes good furniture look bad.”
This focus on lighting has become a growing part of BlueVision’s business, particularly with the emergence of human-centric lighting systems that evolve with natural daylight patterns, providing warmer tones in the morning and evening. “People keep their lights on all day long now,” Laurent notes, making this technology particularly relevant for modern lifestyles.
For homeowners with large residences, Laurent strongly advocates against DIY solutions or big-box store technology. “If you have a 10,000- or 20,000-square-foot home, you have to scale up and use different tech products, and you have to pick the right people to install it,” he warns. “When we get phone calls from people with problems, most of the time it’s not the product; it’s how it was implemented. A larger home requires different types of products and methods.”
This expertise becomes crucial as home technology trends toward increasingly sophisticated solutions, such as microLED displays, offering unprecedented screen size and quality, and comprehensive automation systems that can manage dozens of zones and hundreds of devices from a single interface.
As BlueVision continues serving Metro Atlanta’s luxury market, Laurent remains focused on his original passion: helping clients discover how technology can genuinely improve their lives. Whether it’s replacing 200 light switches with intuitive automation or preparing homes for AI-enhanced living, his mission stays constant. *
Robin Howard is a freelance writer in Charleston. See more of her work at robinhowardwrites.com.
