Sarah Langley on Leading Culture with Intention, Balancing Legacy and Innovation, and Making Work More Human at Scale

by Dr. Jessica Kriegel | Jan 16, 2026

This week, Jessica sits down with Sarah Langley, Chief People, Culture, and Communications Officer at Suntory Global Spirits, to explore how leaders can intentionally shape culture in complex, global organizations—without losing humanity or purpose. Drawing on her background in psychology and her experience across regions and industries, Sarah shares how beliefs drive behavior, and behavior ultimately defines culture.

Sarah explains why Suntory shifted its focus from how work gets done to why it gets done, and how simplicity and empowerment emerged as core cultural priorities following the company’s global rebrand. She offers practical insight into embedding values into everyday leadership behaviors—from work-life balance norms to decision-making at scale.

The conversation also explores leading culture across geographies, balancing global consistency with local expression, and why listening—especially across differences—is essential to unlocking human potential. Sarah closes with reflections on the evolving role of HR as a strategic partner, the impact of technology on people leadership, and why lasting success always comes back to one thing: people.

About Sarah Langley

Sarah Langley is the Senior Vice President, Chief People, Culture & Communications Officer at Suntory Global Spirits, where she leads the company’s global talent strategy, culture programs, employee engagement, diversity & inclusion, organizational development, and corporate communications.

She has a long-standing career with the Suntory Group, beginning in 2004 with Frucor Suntory in Oceania. There she served as Chief People and Communications Officer before taking on broader global roles, including Deputy Chief Operating Officer, Global HR at Suntory Holdings, based in Tokyo.

In 2020, Langley was promoted to Chief Operating Officer of Global People & Culture for Suntory Holdings, where she helped steer the company’s global talent agenda across its businesses. In 2021 she expanded her responsibilities further to include a hybrid role that also covered Vice President of HR for Asia Pacific at Suntory Global Spirits.

Originally from New Zealand, she holds a Bachelor of Arts in Business Psychology and a Master of Arts in Industrial Psychology from Massey University in Auckland. Before joining Suntory, she worked in consulting with Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu and Sheffield Limited. Langley is based in New York with her family.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarah-langley-3a180519/

Website: https://www.suntoryglobalspirits.com/

Host: Jessica Kriegel