Satty Saha, Chief executive officer, TransUnion (formerly Callcredit)

Path to power

I was appointed CEO of TransUnion UK in January 2019, after joining the UK business in summer 2018 as chief commercial officer. Prior to that, I was chief business officer at TransUnion CIBIL, India, where I was responsible for crafting and executing the go-to-market strategy. Having been part of TransUnion for more than four years, I’m looking forward to introducing the full extent of its global offering to the UK market and providing our customers with an even greater level of data and insight to help them succeed. During my career - with close to 20 years of leadership experience - I have managed large geographies, products and business lines in India and Africa for retail banks and information services companies. My strengths include strong strategic thinking, execution ability, managing large and diverse teams and the ability to set up and grow businesses in the financial services arena. Previous roles have included senior management positions with Barclays Africa, Deutsche Bank and Citibank in areas spanning cards, payments, retail banking, risk, fraud and information services.

What has been the highlight of your career in the industry to date?

There have been many highlights, but I’m more excited about what’s ahead in 2019 as we introduce our trended credit data product, TrueVision, to the UK market. It is far more than a single product. It’s a concept that enhances many of our products through applying our innovative analytical techniques to identify consumer behaviours not previously possible. The scores, attributes and algorithms generated provide key indicators of revenue and risk, identify balance trends to tell us about where the consumer is headed and can deduce spend by examining previous and current balances and payments. As a result, our solutions can improve lender and consumer outcomes through more precise insights and have been hugely successful in other markets globally, such as the US.

If you could give your younger self some advice about how to progress in this industry, what would it be?

I’d say embrace change, be bold in your thinking and stay ahead of the technology curve and the fraudsters. This is a fast-paced industry with plenty of room for innovators and pioneers. 2018 was a milestone year for us in many ways. The acquisition of Callcredit was completed in June 2018, introducing TransUnion to the UK and marking the start of an exciting new phase for our UK operation as part of a global risk and information solutions provider, as well as being the second-largest credit reference agency in the UK by market share. It was also the year of the GDPR. This was a watershed moment and had far-reaching implications for the data industry, helping to usher in a new era of greater consumer empowerment.

What do you expect 2019 to be like for the industry?

GDPR has put consumers firmly in charge of their own data, which very much aligns with TransUnion’s consumer-first approach and is a positive change in terms of the sustainable use of data with the right controls on privacy and protection. It has brought about some changes to our service offerings as a result, which I’m sure is the case for many businesses. The way forward is consent-based architecture and open banking is a step in the right direction here, so we expect to see adoption increasing in the year ahead. TransUnion open banking offers an end-to-end service, specifically designed to assess income and expenditure, affordability and creditworthiness. The consumer will enjoy a smoother customer journey and more tailored product and service offering, while businesses will benefit from more granular, real-time data and enhanced actionable insight.

Talent and skills are always a challenge to find - how are you tackling this in your organisation?

TransUnion offers an exciting place for people who want to work at the cutting-edge of technology in areas spanning big data, machine learning, artificial intelligence and advanced analytics. With a presence in over 30 countries, we offer global opportunities and supported paths to career progression. These opportunities span all levels and many of our vacancies are filled internally due to our focus on nurturing and developing our talent. We’re also helping to address the gender imbalance in technology with our “Girls Into tech” programme and have been working with secondary schools to introduce more female students to the opportunities that exist within technology and data science.

What aspect of data, analytics or their use are you most optimistic about and why?

We’re in the middle of an explosion of new data sources, led by the digital revolution. This, together with exciting new analytical techniques and computer power, enables us to do more good with data. Not only can we further reduce fraud to bring society benefits, but we can be part of the creation of a fairer and more transparent financial eco-system. Data and analytics technology/service provider