Sarah Watling is Co-Founder and CEO of JALI Research Inc., the leading Toronto-based developer of advanced automated lip sync and facial animation tools and pipeline solutions. She has led JALI from an early-stage startup to a multi-million-dollar company with global reach, committed to developing best-in-class creator tools for future generations of digital storytellers.

Watling is widely recognized for her strategic and operational leadership, guiding JALI to consistent year-over-year revenue growth. She is a trusted partner to leading game, animation, and production studios and R&D teams using JALI technology to direct expressive, believable animated performances at scale, including Blizzard Entertainment, Epic Games, CD Projekt Red, Activision, Obsidian Entertainment, Visual Concepts, The LEGO Group, Riot Games, Sony Interactive Entertainment, Don't Nod, and others.

As a regular presenter and panelist, Watling speaks at conferences worldwide, including the Game Developers Conference, SIGGRAPH, World Animation Summit, Gamescom Dev, and the Hollywood Professional Association Tech Retreat. Her expertise focuses on facial animation and lip sync technology in production, as well as broader topics such as non-linear interactive animation pipelines, artificial intelligence, and how studios can strategically scale production, safeguard creative excellence, and drive long-term commercial success.

Sarah comes to the field of 3D character animation and the commercial industries of video game production through film and large-scale concert production, as well as executive leadership in festival production and not-for-profit arts administration.