International Fire Buyer speaks with Advanced’s Middle East leadership on how integrated fire systems are reshaping fire safety across the region’s most complex developments
With giga projects reshaping Saudi Arabia, ultra-high rise construction redefining skylines in Dubai, and infrastructure expansion continuing across the GCC, fire safety systems are being asked to perform at a higher level than ever before. Ahead of Intersec Dubai 2026, International Fire Buyer spoke with three of Advanced’s regional leaders: Sasi Kumar, General Manager MEA, Sargunan Sellamuthu, Business Development Manager Middle East, and Shadi Elhag, Business Development Manager Middle East to understand what is driving change on the ground and how integrated fire systems are responding.
What is driving the surge in demand for more advanced fire safety systems across the Middle East?
Sasi Kumar:
The scale and pace of construction across the region are unlike anything we have seen before. Projects are larger, taller, and more complex, with mixed use occupancies becoming the norm rather than the exception. Residential, hospitality, retail, and leisure spaces are often combined within a single structure, each presenting very different fire risks and evacuation challenges.
As a result, fire safety is no longer approached as a box ticking exercise. Developers, consultants, and authorities are looking beyond minimum code compliance towards systems that offer resilience, adaptability, and clear performance in real world conditions.
There is also a growing expectation that fire systems should operate as part of a wider life safety ecosystem. Clear and often multilingual evacuation messaging, intelligent smoke control, real time system visibility, and coordinated interaction with mechanical and building management systems are now seen as essential. The conversation has shifted from compliance to performance, particularly in how systems behave during complex or evolving incident scenarios.
What will Advanced be showcasing at Intersec Dubai 2026?
Sasi Kumar:
Intersec remains the most important regional platform for fire and life safety, and our focus this year is on demonstrating how modern fire systems support large scale and mission critical environments.
We will be showcasing our UL listed Axis AX system alongside the EN approved Axis EN platform. Axis AX is designed for complex developments and supports large networked systems of up to 200 panels, with advanced cause and effect programming and robust networking. Capabilities such as PerfectSync ensure that audio and visual alerts remain synchronised across an entire site, which is particularly important in high rise buildings where voice evacuation is central to safe evacuation strategies.
Axis EN, meanwhile, offers hybrid wired and wireless capability, making it well suited to retrofit projects, heritage buildings, or occupied sites where cabling disruption must be minimised. Both systems support AlarmCalm technology to help reduce unwanted alarms, a growing concern in hospitality and healthcare environments.
We will also be demonstrating tools such as DynamixSmoke for smoke control configuration and ExGo for extinguishing control, alongside simpler solutions such as AxisGo and QuickZone for smaller projects.
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