Future of work? Unlock what humans do best. Tech follows.
Sathya Bala is an award-winning leader, board member, entrepreneur, speaker, coach and community organiser. She built a successful corporate career working at large organisations like Sainsburys, Deloitte, HSBC and Barclays with her last role being the Global Head of Data at Chanel.
In 2021 she decided to launch her own business True Change which aims to build a more innovative, inclusive world using data and stories to drive meaningful culture change. Over her professional career, Sathya has actively championed industry wide progress on data for good, women in tech and inclusion at work. She has been recognised as a Top 100 Ethnic Minority Executive by Yahoo
Finance, Positive Role Model at the UK National Diversity Awards and Women Leaders in Data & AI (WLDA) Awards.
Sathya is a leading voice not only in business, but also in the community and academia. She is founder of My Skin My Story (a global community that empowers women of colour), a UN Women volunteer and board trustee. Sathya has also been guest faculty at Cambridge University and the University of Salford.
Sathya embraces her cross-cultural perspective, as a Sri Lankan Tamil woman, born in Singapore, who grew up in Sydney and has lived in Sydney, London and Chicago. Cultural intelligence is at the heart of how she engages diverse audiences.
Sathya is a compelling storyteller and catalyst for change, inspiring others to tap into their unique superpowers, lead inclusively, empower cross-cultural teams, innovate and transform using data and AI, while keeping humans at the centre and ensuring no one is left behind.
Talking Points
Data Storytelling
Breaking down the ingredients of data storytelling, why it is an essential business skill and how we become effective data storytellers.
Data Storytelling
Human-Centred AI
Defining human-centred AI, clarifying it's urgency and importance, digging into how leaders build their own AI confidence while championing the human angle as AI transforms work.
Human-Centred AI
Innovation Mindset
Exploring the question who gets to create and innovate? Setting out what mindset and ways of working are needed for innovation to thrive. Looking for rebel ideas and building teams that lean into innovative thinking without fear.
Innovation Mindset
Identity & intersectionality
Sathya brings to life how identity is multi-layered, how it can be used as a career asset, embracing the many layers of Identity & intersectionality
diversity in any workplace. We break down what intersectionality means, how it shows up in
people's lives and how we can reframe intersectional identities to be superpowers we value.
Career confidence & empowerment
Sathya provides inspirational and practical insight on several topics of career and self empowerment: knowing your worth, owning your voice, storytelling skills, embracing your superpowers, debunking imposter syndrome, owning your career, building resilience, defining your leadership style.
Career confidence & empowerment
Inclusion As A Value Driver
Whether it be engaging more women in leadership, harnessing cross-cultural perspectives or leading inclusively, Sathya frames inclusion as a business-critical concept which is win-win for business, and makes it simple and practical to put into action.
Inclusion As A Value Driver
Video
Sathya Bala | Who gets to create and innovate? | Saxton Speakers
Sathya Bala, CEO & Founder of True Change delivers a keynote speech at The Outlook Conference in Melbourne July 2025.Sathya Bala | Debunking Imposter Syndrome | Saxton Speakers
Sathya Bala, CEO & Founder of True Change delivers this keynote at a Digital Accessibility Conference in the UK, TechShare Pro in November 2025. She explores what is imposter syndrome vs. difference vs. exclusion.Sathya Bala | Identity & Intersectionality | Saxton Speakers
Sathya Bala, CEO & Founder of True Change and My Skin My Story is a professional speaker. She uses her story to bring concepts of diversity, equity and inclusion to life.Sathya authentically shared her personal journey and reinforced the importance of intersectionality within identity. She inspired our colleagues to reflect on how identity plays a part in pe ... keep reading QBE
Our team is a geographically disparate group from the US, UK and India who have never met in person. In telling her own story Sathya did a phenomenal job in creating psychological safety that allowed great interaction and engagement from the whole team as we explored the value and impact we each have.
We thoroughly enjoyed working with Sathya on the data storytelling sessions for our global champions. We valued how clear and well-structured the presentation was, with concise messages. The flow, examples and constant interaction worked well. This has opened up a lot of interest in data and storytelling among the participants. The event survey showed that colleagues found the sessions engaging, relevant and practical, with strong appreciation for Sathya’s experience, interactive approach and clear explanations. They valued the emphasis on questioning and reflecting on data, and the practical examples shared by Sathya.
Bringing Sathya in to moderate a panel discussion as part of our annual women’s empowerment summit really increased the impact of the conversation. She was able to bring external perspective as well as personal, lived experience to the conversation. She expertly ensured key points raised were heard loud and clear while remaining balanced for our global audience.
