100-INSPIRING-LEADERS-IN-THE-MIDDLE-EAST-94.Faisal Al Bannai
Posted inUncategorized 100 Inspiring Leaders in the Middle East

Faisal Al Bannai

Company: DarkMatter

Designation: Founder & CEO

Faisal Al Bannai is founder and CEO of DarkMatter, an international cyber security firm headquartered in the UAE, which has become a trusted by both nations and enterprises to protect their most sensitive data. Founded in 2014, DarkMatter has grown exponentially and now has more than 650 staff. In 2017 alone, it generated more than $400m in revenues.

DarkMatter specialises in cyber security, and within this area provides products, services and solutions spanning the entire value chain. The firm develops offerings that are raising cyber security to cyber resilience, making nations, companies and individuals better able to defend against cyber-attacks and emerge from them stronger.

DarkMatter has been successful in attracting some of the best talent from around the world, and is quickly expanding its breadth of commercial operations beyond the UAE. The firm runs development centres in Canada, Finland and China and with a view to becoming a global end-to-end cyber security specialist.

Al Bannai and DarkMatter have been recipients of numerous accolades over the years, including: Lifetime Achievement Award presented by Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and ruler of the Emirate of Dubai; Arabian Business Entrepreneur of the Year Award in 2005; Arab Achievement Award in 2011; CEO of the Year Award for 2012; a Dubai Quality Award; Gulf Business Awards Technology Personality of the Year in 2017; and inclusion in Gulf Business’ 100 Most Powerful Arabs list in 2018.

Prior to establishing DarkMatter, Al Bannai founded Axiom Telecom in 1997 and built it into the largest distributor of mobile products in the Middle East. The company now counts over 2,500 employees in the region, with annual turnover in excess of $2.5bn.

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