Sathbir Kaur 10 Most Innovative HR Leaders 2025

Leader at a Glance

Sathbir blends two decades of HR expertise with a people-first philosophy. From recruitment and policy to workforce strategy, she has mastered every facet of HR while ensuring empathy stays at the core. Her leadership is defined by balancing operational excellence with emotional intelligence in a rapidly digitising workplace.

Name: Sathbir Kaur
Designation: Senior Director - Human Resources (India)
Company: Vertafore
Industry: InsurTech
Country: India

Sathbir Kaur 10 Most Innovative HR Leaders 2025

The smell of fresh coffee wafted through the conference room as Sathbir Kaur walked into her first leadership meeting with a sense of responsibility that went far beyond routine HR functions. As her team discussed quarterly hiring targets and attrition metrics, she quietly observed the people behind the numbers and outcomes. She noticed what wasn’t said in the meeting, the hesitation of a new manager, the burnout in a once enthusiastic team lead, the disconnect between the flashy hiring plan and the ground reality of employee morale. It was at that moment, she recalls, that she understood HR was about reading pulse, and understanding and aligning it with business reality.

Today, as the Senior Director – Human Resources, India at Vertafore, Sathbir stands at the intersection of operational excellence and emotional intelligence. With more than two decades of experience in the IT and services industry, she has carved a path where empathy meets execution. Her career has spanned every corner of HR, from full-cycle recruitment to policy design, immigration, learning, and strategic workforce planning, But what makes her leadership truly impactful is her human-first approach in an increasingly digitised world. In a candid conversation with The Portfolio Magazine, Sathbir opens up about mindset shifts, disrupting insurance-tech norms, driving cohesive employee experience, and translating trust into strategy.

When you look back at your earliest HR role, what mindset shift made the biggest difference between being an HR professional and becoming an HR leader?

The biggest shift was learning to move from a transactional mindset to a strategic one. As an HR professional, I was focused on execution, managing benefits, handling employee relations, following compliance, facilitating hiring. But leadership demanded a wider lens. I had to start thinking in terms of long-term talent strategy, workforce planning, succession readiness, and culture-building. You start aligning people’s practices with business goals and that’s a whole new ball game. You’re also constantly balancing what often feels like impossible contradictions: empathy and accountability, agility and structure, innovation and compliance. That shift changed everything for me.

“Stress or burnout is often seen as a personal weakness or a family matter, not something to discuss at work. ”

InsureTech is a fascinating intersection of tradition and disruption. What unique people-related challenges arise when innovation meets a legacy-driven industry and how do you navigate them?

It’s definitely a space where two very different worlds collide. On one side, you have legacy insurers, structured, risk-averse, deeply rooted in traditional processes. On the other hand, you have tech innovators who thrive on speed, experimentation, and iteration. The cultural gap between the two creates friction. There’s often resistance to change, fear of automation, and a talent mismatch. The key is to bridge these worlds. We do this by nurturing a culture of learning, upskilling our existing workforce, hiring with intention, and fostering diverse cross-functional teams. Communication becomes critical, getting both sides to not just talk, but understand each other. That’s how you ensure innovation doesn’t erase tradition, but strengthens it.

What does it take to hire and retain tech talent in an industry that isn’t always seen as “cool,” like insurance?

It starts with being authentically tech-forward. You can’t fake it. You need to create an environment where tech talent feels empowered, not managed. Give them a seat at the table when it comes to architecture and product decisions. Move beyond just competing on compensation; instead, compete on culture. Offer real career paths, continuous learning, cross-functional exposure, and communities that matter to them like hackathons or certification sponsorships. We also tailor our employer brand, showcasing the tools we use, the innovation we drive, and the impact we make. Insurance may not seem “cool,” but when you show that tech can help solve realworld problems like underwriting complexity or modernising legacy systems, it becomes deeply meaningful work.

“Move beyond just competing on compensation; instead, compete on culture”

You’ve worked across everything from policy design to L&D. How do you ensure a cohesive employee experience across such varied touchpoints?

The key is anchoring everything to a consistent employee value proposition. Whether it’s a policy, a training module, or a performance conversation, it all needs to reflect the same voice, the same values, and the same promise. We use a unified design language and tone across HR touchpoints to ensure it feels familiar and connected. Managers are equipped with toolkits and training to deliver that consistency on the ground. Most importantly, we constantly seek feedback—whether during onboarding, through pulse surveys, or at exit. Every touchpoint must be part of a larger, cohesive journey that reflects who we are as an organisation.

What are some blind spots in Asian corporate culture when it comes to employee well-being or psychological safety? How do you address them?

One of the biggest blind spots is the cultural deference to hierarchy. Employees often hesitate to speak up or challenge ideas because there’s so much emphasis on respect and seniority. As a result, problems go unresolved and innovation is stifled. Another issue is how mental health is perceived. Stress or burnout is often seen as a personal weakness or a family matter, not something to discuss at work. Add to that the glorification of overwork, staying late or skipping vacations is wrongly interpreted as commitment. To address these, we actively promote open-door conversations, anonymous feedback channels, and manager sensitisation programs. We also normalise discussions around mental health, and more importantly, back it up with action like wellness leave, mental health support programs, and workload audits. It’s about creating not just a safe workspace, but a human one.

What’s the last people focused innovation that truly inspired you, and how are you translating that into your HR strategy?

Netflix’s “Freedom and Responsibility” culture really struck a chord with me. It’s about giving people autonomy while expecting full accountability. It’s bold, but powerful. We’ve been adapting this into our HR strategy by building systems that trust employees to make decisions and supporting them to own those decisions. We’re transparent about expectations and how individual roles tie into business outcomes. Even during hiring, we assess for comfort with autonomy and decision-making. Our rewards are designed to recognise impact and ownership, not only tenure. It’s about trusting adults to behave like adults and enabling them to thrive in that freedom.