Name: Salam Baras

Title: CEO

Company: Innovative Solutions

Website: www.is.com.sa

Founded: 2014

Headquarters: Riyadh

Description: Innovative Solutions (IS) is a leading digital services and cybersecurity company in the GCC, established in 2003 and headquartered in Riyadh, with presence across Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

From Risk to Resilience: Salam Baras Champions Cyber Trust in the GCC

Salam Baras, Chief Executive Officer of Innovative Solutions, is a seasoned cybersecurity leader with extensive experience shaping the cybersecurity landscape in Saudi Arabia and the wider Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). Known for his strategic foresight and commitment to national impact, Baras has guided the company from a niche provider into a regional powerhouse. His leadership philosophy – anchored in trust, agility and assured execution—has positioned Innovative Solutions as a trusted advisor for enterprises navigating digital transformation.

In this interview, Baras discusses the company’s origins, its approach to delivering trust and resilience, and the innovations that lie ahead. Excerpts:

Founding Principles

Innovative Solutions was founded on a core belief that trust is the foundation of digital transformation. Says Salam that back in 2003, the region lacked a locally anchored cybersecurity partner capable of blending international standards with a deep understanding of Saudi Arabia’s business and regulatory landscape. “Our mission was to bridge that gap—offering trusted expertise, assured execution, and locally relevant security solutions that enable organizations to innovate with confidence. Over the years, this purpose has evolved into a regional mandate: empowering enterprises to achieve secure digital growth aligned with Vision 2030 and beyond.”

Delivering Trust Across Cyberspace

“Our approach begins with understanding the client’s business outcomes before designing the security framework around them. We integrate governance and compliance with NCA, SAMA and ISO standards, implement modern architectures such as Zero Trust and IAM/PAM, and ensure continuous detection and response through SOC and MDR/XDR capabilities.” This holistic model delivers adaptive, context-aware protection that evolves alongside each client’s risk landscape—ensuring operational resilience, data privacy and regulatory alignment, according to Salam.

Fostering a visionary growth across the GCC

The company’s growth has been guided by a clear leadership philosophy—customer intimacy, national impact and regional scalability. Under the leadership team, the company transformed from a niche cybersecurity provider into a regional digital powerhouse aligned with KSA’s ambitions. “We invest heavily in leadership development, talent pipelines and strategic alliances to ensure that our success directly reflects our clients’ digital maturity. This leadership approach has positioned Innovative Solutions as a trusted advisor for secure transformation across the GCC.”

Building Client Confidence

Earning accreditation like ISO 27001 validates the company’s information security governance; ISO 9001 demonstrates its quality management excellence; and its PCI-DSS QSA authorization reinforces its credibility in assessing and securing payment environments. “Together, they strengthen client confidence, streamline compliance and reduce audit friction for banks, fintechs and major enterprises.”

Supporting Digital Transformation

The company enables organizations to transform securely by embedding cybersecurity into every stage of their digital journey. “From risk assessments and compliance alignment to secure cloud migration, identity management, data protection and continuous threat monitoring—our solutions ensure that innovation and security progress hand in hand.” This approach allows clients in finance, energy and other sectors to accelerate transformation initiatives while maintaining resilience and regulatory compliance.

Consulting and Managed Services

“Our consulting division sets the strategic direction—defining governance, risk frameworks and compliance baselines—while our Managed Services deliver continuous resilience. Combining advanced threat intelligence, detection engineering and incident response, our services provide tailored coverage for each client’s assets and threat profile.” This dual model ensures that organizations not only establish strong cybersecurity foundations but also maintain 24×7 resilience against evolving threats.

Tailoring Solutions to Industries

The company begins with an understanding of each sector’s regulatory and operational context—such as SAMA and NCA mandates for finance and government, or OT safety requirements for energy. “Then, we design security controls that align with specific workflows, from banking transactions to field operations. This ensures that cybersecurity not only protects but also supports each organization’s business value chain.”

Compliance Challenges

Many organizations struggle with overlapping mandates, evolving regulations and maintaining audit readiness across complex environments. Innovation Solutions simplify this by offering integrated control catalogs, compliance automation and centralized evidence management. “Our approach transforms compliance from a reactive, annual process into a continuous, data-driven practice—reducing risk and improving governance efficiency.”

Partnerships and Ecosystem

The organisation builds partnerships based on technological relevance and client value. From leading security vendors like Palo Alto, Fortinet and F5, to hyperscalers such as Oracle, Azure and GCP, its ecosystem ensures they deliver fit-for-purpose solutions. “These alliances enable us to integrate best-of-breed technologies into cohesive outcomes—maximizing both security effectiveness and operational efficiency.”

Client Feedback

Client feedback forms the backbone of our continuous improvement cycle. Through quarterly reviews, NPS surveys and post-incident retrospectives, it captures insights that directly influence our service evolution—from detection content to process automation. Many of its innovations originate from collaborative engagements where a client’s challenge inspires a new capability or solution.

 Looking Ahead

Innovation Solutions is expanding across five strategic domains: Digital Trust, Cyber Resilience, Cloud & Digital Infrastructure, Enterprise Data & AI and Digital Payments. The next wave of innovation will focus on AI-driven defense, automated compliance, secure GenAI enablement and managed services that link cybersecurity to measurable business KPIs. “Our goal is to continue leading regional digital transformation—securely and sustainably”, according to Salam.

Conclusion

Under Salam Baras’s leadership, Innovative Solutions has become synonymous with trust and resilience in the GCC’s digital economy. By blending international standards with local expertise, the company continues to empower enterprises to innovate securely. As the region accelerates toward Vision 2030, Salam’s vision ensures that cybersecurity remains not just a safeguard, but a catalyst for sustainable growth.