Bala Sankaran

About Bala Sankaran

Bala Sankaran, currently serves as VP, Global GoToMarket Operations for LinkedIn\'s Media Solutions business. In his role he oversees strategy, GTM sales motions, process, policy, tools, data and various other business processes to power our field sales teams. His objective is to bring the best of LinkedIn to our customers and help them achieve their economic goals. Prior to LinkedIn, he was the founder and CEO of Alpha Ori Technologies (AOT), a leading maritime technology company delivering IoT, Big Data, and AI/ML solutions to the global shipping industry. Under his leadership, AOT grew from 0 to $15M ARR, raised $40M in funding, scaled to 400 employees with 90%+ retention, and built a customer base of 45+ major B2B clients. AOT’s flagship SMARTShip® platform powers ships, enabling real-time data-driven decision-making and operational optimization across the maritime supply chain, paving the way toward autonomous shipping.In 2024, Bala successfully led AOT’s merger with Denmark-based ZeroNorth Technologies in a $125M deal, and now serves on its board and as a strategic advisor.Previously, Bala was VP of Global Operations at Twitter, building global sales strategy and operations through its IPO phase, and held leadership roles at Google, McKinsey, and also served as a Chief Engineer on board merchant marine ships at sea. He holds an MBA from The Wharton School.A passionate long-distance runner, mountaineer, and coach, Bala founded Runners High With Bala, training 2500+ runners globally and has led 15+ international mountaineering expeditions.

Experience

1. VP, Linkedin Media Solutions

   Linkedin

   Mar 2025 — Present · New York, NY, US

   Lead global operations team for LinkedIn\'s Marketing Solutions Team

Education

• DMET

  Bachelors Degree, Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering

• The Wharton School

  MBA, Finance and Marketing