POINT

Firas Al-Beiruti, Country Manager KSA at Milestone Systems, examines how intelligent video, AI and open platforms are becoming critical infrastructure for security, safety and business continuity.

As these developments move into use, they will need security systems that can manage large sites, dense workforces, visitor movement, remote locations, and changing risk in real time. For project owners, this is business continuity. A delayed response to crowding, a perimeter breach, a logistics disruption, or a safety incident can affect visitor confidence, contractor performance, insurance exposure, and global reputation.

Scale is only part of the challenge. Saudi Arabia’ s mega-projects with high-paced construction zones, visitor areas, logistics routes, worker accommodation, transport links, and operational facilities may sit alongside one another through the project timeline, creating a security environment that continues to evolve during construction.

Construction zones need to protect workers, equipment, and materials, while visitor areas depend on crowd-density monitoring and clear incident response. Remote perimeters require early intrusion detection, and transport hubs need quick coordination when movement is disrupted. Treating all of this as simple surveillance misses the point.

Video is often still discussed as a security overlay, something added after the design is complete. In mega projects, that thinking is outdated.

Cameras without analytics are mostly storage devices, recording what happened. With AI-driven analytics, intelligent video systems can support perimeter monitoring, crowd-density detection, behavioral anomaly alerts, asset tracking, and safety compliance across construction and operational zones.

The role of AI is to sharpen human judgment, not take it out of the loop. When a crowd begins to compress near an entrance, a vehicle enters a restricted zone, or equipment moves outside an expected area, intelligent video can surface the change early enough for an operator to check, escalate, or respond.

This is where open platforms come in. Mega projects evolve and rarely use one technology stack forever. An open video platform allows customers and partners to integrate cameras, analytics, access control, sensors, and operational tools without locking the environment into a single vendor path. A

Firas Al-Beiruti, platform that works during

Country Manager KSA at Milestone Systems early construction also needs to support phased openings, new partners, shifting visitor patterns, and full-scale operations without forcing costly redesigns.

When a development is remote, spread across a large area, or exposed to harsh operating conditions, it cannot always rely on every video stream being sent to a distant data centre before a decision is made.

Running some intelligence at the edge can reduce latency, preserve bandwidth, and keep critical functions available when connectivity is constrained. For perimeter intrusion, worker safety, or vehicle movement, seconds matter.

The emerging model is hybrid, rather than a choice between edge, cloud, and on-site infrastructure. Local processing handles what must happen immediately. Cloud and centralised systems support storage, broader analytics, coordination, and long-term operational insight.

Security systems in these environments cannot operate in isolation. They need to integrate with access control, fire safety, emergency response, operations centers, and facilities management. They also need to comply with Saudi Arabia’ s regulatory requirements on data and cybersecurity.

Responsible technology has to be built in from the start. Privacy settings, retention rules, access rights, audit trails, and AI governance should not be retrofitted after cameras and analytics workflows are already live.

WWW. INTELLIGENTCISO. COM / MIDDLE-EAST 19