EssilorLuxottica has appointed Sunali N Ahluwalia as Chief Financial Officer for the Indian Subcontinent, marking the next chapter in the finance leader’s career after a significant stint with adidas. She brings extensive experience across finance leadership, financial planning and analysis, business partnering, internal audit and governance. Her career has spanned large multinational organisations and complex, globally integrated businesses, giving her experience across both the strategic and operational dimensions of the finance function.
Before joining EssilorLuxottica, Ms Ahluwalia held senior finance responsibilities at adidas, where her profile has been associated with senior finance leadership and board-level responsibilities. Public professional profiles also reflect her earlier experience with organisations including Philips, where she worked across internal audit, technical accounting, and oversight.
Her career trajectory reflects the broader evolution of the CFO role from financial stewardship towards active business partnership.
Her experience includes financial controls, reporting, audit, accounting, and commercial finance, alongside responsibilities that require finance leaders to work closely with business teams. A recommendation on her professional profile describes her as a commercially focused finance professional who combines business partnering with a strong focus on stakeholder outcomes and team development.
The appointment comes as the eyewear industry continues to evolve through changing consumer behaviour, premiumisation, retail transformation and the growing integration of technology across the customer journey. For a business operating across a broad portfolio of brands, products and markets, the finance function plays an important role in balancing growth ambitions with operational discipline.
Her experience across multinational environments positions her to bring a combination of financial rigour and business-oriented decision-making to the role.
Her earlier experience at adidas also gives her exposure to a highly consumer-facing, brand-led business. Her professional profile lists her as a senior finance leader and board member within the adidas organisation.
Ms Ahluwalia’s appointment is therefore significant beyond the change in designation. It reflects the continuing shift in how organisations view finance leadership.
For large consumer businesses, the CFO increasingly sits at the intersection of growth, profitability, operations and strategic decision-making. The ability to understand the commercial engine of the business while maintaining financial discipline has become as important as traditional accounting expertise.
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