The power of two: One vision, twice the ambition with Beyond Media

Two names can launch a company. They cannot, on their own, make it matter. That takes judgement, complementary strengths and the willingness to stand behind decisions long after the first handshake.

Bassam Sleiman and Rabih Saab have built Beyond Media around that understanding. Their careers have taken them across government institutions, international business, senior advisory roles and the wider communications industry. Both know trust takes years to earn and very little time to lose. Yet their experience is not interchangeable, and that is precisely its strength.

Sleiman is Founder and Managing Director of Yond & Beyond and Co-Founder and CEO of Beyond Media. His career spans more than 28 years of senior leadership, corporate strategy, executive advisory and communications across government and business. Saab, Beyond Media’s Co-Founder and Managing Director, brings more than 18 years of commercial leadership, business development, strategic partnerships and operational management. They want senior thinking matched by the ability to deliver, with both founders responsible for the result.

Bassam Sleiman | The responsibility to lead

Sleiman has never regarded leadership as a title attached to the top of an organisation chart. As the founder of Yond & Beyond, he has had to set its direction, build its capabilities, develop client relationships, make commercial decisions and remain accountable for the quality of the work delivered in the company’s name. Communication is central to the business, but running it demands far more.

‘When you build a company, you are responsible for its direction, its people and every promise it makes,’ says Sleiman. ‘You cannot separate strategic vision from commercial discipline, or leadership from accountability. The work must be excellent, but the business behind that work must be equally strong.’

That perspective has been tested across government and business. Among the many organisations associated with his work are the UAE Ministry of Economy, Ministry of Foreign Trade, Ministry of International Cooperation and Development, Abu Dhabi’s Crown Prince Court, Department of Economic Development and Department of Government Support. Selected assignments also include TAQA, Abu Dhabi Power Corporation, Abu Dhabi eGovernment and international brands such as Boeing, LG, Huawei and BMW. These names represent only part of a much wider career spanning economic development, energy, technology, aviation, automotive, real estate, major events and other sectors.

Across those sectors, Sleiman has worked where leadership priorities, stakeholder expectations, commercial interests and institutional reputation have to be weighed together. Decisions do not stay confined to one department. They shape an organisation’s direction, the confidence of those who depend on it and the relationships it needs for the future.

‘A leader has to understand the whole organisation, not just the issue on the table,’ Sleiman says. ‘You need to know where the business wants to go, what may stand in its way and what each decision will mean further down the line. Sometimes the most valuable advice is the question nobody has thought to ask.’

At Yond & Beyond, that thinking shapes how Sleiman leads the business. He sets its strategic direction, oversees governance and commercial priorities, advises senior clients and develops the people entrusted with the company’s commitments. For him, the achievement of a founder is to build an organisation whose standards remain strong even when the founder is not in the room.

Under Sleiman’s strategic leadership and direct supervision, Yond & Beyond has delivered measurable results across major communications assignments. Among the selected achievements, the consultancy’s Tawdheef × Zaheb 2023 campaign generated 210 media articles and secured 59 on-site interviews. In 2025, campaigns delivered under his leadership recorded an estimated media reach of 3.50 million, more than 70 high-level interviews and USD 1.97 million in reported PR value. These achievements reflect not only the consultancy’s performance, but also Sleiman’s hands-on executive oversight, strategic direction and commitment to maintaining high standards of delivery across every stage of an assignment.

‘Results matter, but numbers only tell part of the story,’ he says. ‘I want to know whether we delivered on our commitments, whether our advice was sound and whether the client would trust us with a more difficult decision tomorrow. That is how you build an organisation with a future, not just a portfolio of campaigns.’

His academic qualifications include a master’s degree from Paris Sorbonne University Abu Dhabi, a bachelor’s degree in Advertising and Marketing with Distinction from Notre Dame University in Lebanon and an International Advertising Association diploma. He has also worked as a trainer and instructor. His commitment to mentoring reflects a belief that expertise should raise the whole team’s standards.

Beyond Media represents an extension of that entrepreneurial thinking, not a departure from Yond & Beyond. As its Co-Founder and CEO, Sleiman brings oversight of corporate direction, governance, growth and reputation, while helping shape a business that can respond decisively to new commercial opportunities. The two companies have distinct roles, with a shared commitment to senior accountability.

Rabih Saab | Turning opportunity into enterprise

If Sleiman’s experience shows what it takes to build and protect an organisation, Saab’s reveals the energy required to expand one. The Co-Founder and Managing Director of Beyond Media has built a career around identifying opportunities, developing commercially useful relationships and putting the people, partners and processes in place to deliver on them.

His more than 18 years of experience span corporate communications, business development, revenue growth, strategic alliances and operational leadership. Along the way, his professional assignments have been associated with the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre, Mohammed Bin Rashid Library, Dubai Digital, Dubai Sports Council and DEWA, as well as property groups including Emaar, DAMAC and Dar Al Arkan.

Saab’s career has also brought recognition, including an Outstanding Leader in PR & Marketing distinction in 2023 and a Best Media Relations Campaign award connected with Hazza Al Mansoori’s mission to the International Space Station. Recognition for his response during the pandemic speaks to another aspect of his work: staying effective when conditions change and there is little room for delay.

‘Relationships can open a door, but they cannot build the business for you,’ says Saab. ‘You have to understand the opportunity, negotiate the right terms, put a capable team behind it and stay close enough to make sure the result meets the promise. That is where business development becomes leadership.’

At Beyond Media, his remit is deliberately broad. Revenue growth and market expansion sit alongside strategic partnerships, operational excellence, negotiations, delivery standards and day-to-day management. His work extends beyond the campaign itself. In a fast-moving business, the capacity to decide, adjust and take ownership is often what turns a promising idea into a dependable service.

‘For me, being Managing Director means taking responsibility for the full outcome,’ he says. ‘Winning a client is important. Building the right structure to serve that client, keeping the team focused and giving people confidence that we will follow through are what make the relationship last.’

Beyond Media’s five core disciplines, media relations, media buying, events management, advertising and social media, reflect its commitment to delivering focused expertise and maintaining direct accountability for results. When projects require specialist bilingual content or broader marketing and communications (MarCom) support, the agency draws on the established capabilities of Yond & Beyond. This strategic collaboration combines the complementary strengths of both companies, giving clients access to a comprehensive range of integrated services while maintaining each organisation’s distinct identity, strategic focus and operational independence.

Two leaders | One standard

The appeal of the partnership is not a neat division in which one founder thinks and the other acts. Both are entrepreneurs, both have led teams and both understand the commercial consequences of a decision. Their strengths overlap where they should, particularly in client relationships, senior judgement and accountability, while their different experiences give Beyond Media a wider field of view.

‘We do not have to approach every challenge in the same way,’ says Sleiman. ‘What matters is that we can challenge one another, agree on the right direction and stand behind the decisions we make. Good partnerships make leaders more accountable, not less.’

Saab sees the same principle from the operational side. ‘Two partners should bring more than two names to a business card. The real value is in combining strengths, making decisions together and giving clients the confidence that the people leading the business are also standing behind the work.’

Beyond Media will have to establish its own record, as every new company must. The founders are not asking the market to treat their previous achievements as the agency’s achievements. They are bringing the experience, judgement and relationships earned through those careers into a company they intend to build together.

The power of two, in the end, is not about doubling the claims. It is about strengthening the commitment behind them. Two leaders, different strengths, one business, and a shared determination to make every promise worth keeping.