Executive Committee

Biography

Eric Bernard (born 1967, French citizen) joined the Sonova Group in July 2025 and assumed the role of Chief Executive Officer on September 15, 2025.

Eric brings more than 30 years of global leadership experience and a proven track-record in building high-growth, customer centric businesses. From 2019 to 2024, Eric led WS Audiology as Chief Executive Officer, guiding the successful merger and integration of Widex and Sivantos to create a leading global provider of hearing care solutions. Prior to WS Audiology, he spent 25 years in country, regional, and global leadership roles at Essilor, the world leader in optics, and served on the Essilor Executive Committee for nine years. Since1992, his career has taken him to Japan, Singapore, the US, Australia, China, and Denmark, reflecting a deeply international perspective and consistent ability to drive growth across diverse markets.

Eric holds a Master’s degree (“Maitrise”) in Applied Mathematics and Social Sciences from Université Paris Dauphine-PSL, France, and is a graduate of ESSEC Business School in Cergy, France.

Outside Mandates

Listed companies:

• n.a.

Other mandates:

• n.a.

Biography

Elodie Carr-Cingari (Born 1974, French‑Swiss citizen) joined the Sonova Group in May 2025 and assumed the role of Chief Financial Officer (CFO) in July 2025.

Elodie Carr‑Cingari has more than 25 years of experience in senior finance leadership roles in publicly listed and privately held international companies across the industrial and technology sectors. From 2020 to 2025, she served as Chief Financial Officer of Landis+Gyr Group, a Switzerland‑based multinational technology company listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange. 

Prior to this, she was Group CFO of Hoerbiger, an international industrial group. Previously, she held global CFO roles at Alstom and General Electric, and several senior finance leadership positions in Hewlett-Packard where she started her career.

She holds a Master of Business Administration in Finance from Bocconi University, Italy, and a degree in Business Administration from INSEEC Group, France.

Outside Mandates

Listed companies:

• Member of the Board of Directors and Chair of the Audit Committee of Siegfried Holding.

Other mandates:

• n.a.

Biography

Roberto di Fiore (Born 1974, Italian citizen) joined the Sonova Group in November 2025 and was appointed Chief Operations Officer in December 2025.

Roberto di Fiore has held senior operational and business leadership roles in global industrial and medical technology companies for more than 25 years. From 2019 to 2024, he served as Chief Operations Officer and President Asia Pacific at WS Audiology. Prior to this, he spent two years at Sivantos Group as Senior Vice President Operations, where he was responsible for the company’s global efficiency program.

Earlier in his career, Roberto di Fiore spent eleven years in executive leadership positions at Elica Group, an international designer and manufacturer of cooking appliances, with responsibilities across operations and general management. Across his roles, he has led operational transformation initiatives, cost and efficiency programs, and quality and service performance improvements in global, matrix organizations. 

He holds a degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Bologna, Italy.

Roberto di Fiore succeeded Ludger Althoff as Chief Operations Officer. Further details on Ludger Althoff are provided in the last year’s Annual Report.

Outside Mandates

Listed companies:

• n.a.

Other mandates:

• n.a.

Biography

Katya Kruglova (Born 1971, British citizen) joined the Sonova Group in March 2023 and was appointed Chief Human Resources Officer in May 2023.

Katya Kruglova has held senior human resources leadership roles for more than 25 years across international organizations in the medical technology, life sciences and financial services sectors.

Prior to joining Sonova, she served as Vice President Human Resources at GE Healthcare from 2017 to 2023. In this role, she led a global human resources organization spanning more than 30 countries and was responsible for HR strategy, organizational development, and talent management across the business. During this period, she played a key role in the preparation and execution of the spin‑off of GE Healthcare as a publicly listed company in 2022. Earlier in her career, from 1998 to 2017, she held progressively senior human resources leadership roles across several General Electric businesses, including GE Healthcare Life Sciences and GE Capital, with responsibilities at country, regional and global levels.

She holds a Master’s degree in English and Spanish Linguistics and Psychology from the State Linguistic University in Moscow, Russia.

Outside mandates

Listed companies:

• n.a.

Other mandates:

• n.a.

Holdings as per 31.03.2025

• Shares¹⁾: 186
• Performance Share Units: 2,470
• Options: 10,422

Biography

Anders Rosengren (Born 1965, Swedish citizen) joined Sonova in September 2024 as Vice President Research & Development for the Hearing Instruments business and was appointed Chief Research & Development Officer in October 2025.

Anders Rosengren has held senior research and development leadership roles for more than 20 years in global technology organizations, with responsibilities spanning hardware, software and systems development, including cloud‑based and artificial‑intelligence‑enabled technologies. Prior to joining Sonova, he held various senior leadership positions at Ericsson, including Vice President roles in Strategy & Portfolio, Software Engineering, and Architecture & Technology. In these roles, he was responsible for technology strategy, product and portfolio planning, and the development of large‑scale software and systems platforms. His professional background includes mixed‑signal hardware, embedded software, cloud‑native architectures and artificial intelligence, as well as the leadership of global R&D organizations operating in complex, matrix environments.

Anders Rosengren holds a Master of Science degree in Electronic Engineering from Lund University, Sweden, and has completed executive leadership programs at Ericsson and Boston University, USA.

Outside Mandates

Listed companies:

• n.a.

Other mandates:

• n.a.

Biography

Nicholai Dessypris (born 1980, US citizen) joined Sonova Group in November 2024 as President, North America, for the Hearing Instruments Business Unit. He was appointed President, North America Region for the Group in November 2025.

Nicholai brings over 15 years of MedTech experience and 7 years of retail experience to Sonova.From 2022 to 2024, he served as General Manager and Vice President for North America at LifeScan, a global leader in blood glucose monitoring where he led the region and a commercial transformation.

Prior to LifeScan, Nicholai held several general management and commercial executive roles during twelve years at GE Healthcare in the patient monitoring segment. Nicholai also spent the first seven years of his career in the retail vertical, first as a strategy consultant for CapGemini Ernst & Young and then as a manager of merchandise planning and allocation for Victoria's Secret Beauty fragrance category. 

He holds a BSc in Industrial and Systems Engineering with a minor in Information Technology from the Georgia Institute of Technology.

Outside Mandates

Listed companies:

• n.a.

Other mandates:

• n.a.

Biography

Oliver Lux (Born 1976, Austrian citizen) joined the Sonova Group in 2010 and has held a range of senior general management roles within the company. From June 2024 to March 2026, Oliver Lux served as Group Vice President Audiological Care, with overall responsibility for Sonova’s global Audiological Care business. Effective 1 April 2026, he was appointed President, EMEA & LATAM following the reorganization of Sonova’s business units into regional structures

Within Audiological Care, Oliver Lux served as Managing Director in several markets, including Austria, Hungary, the United States and Germany. In addition, he held global corporate roles such as Vice President Strategy & Transformation and Commercial Excellence. In these roles, he was responsible for business development and mergers and acquisitions, including the expansion of sales structures and the integration of newly acquired stores. He was responsible for the global rollout of the “World of Hearing” concept and for the development of new markets, including Brazil, China and Japan. 

Prior to joining the Sonova Group, Oliver Lux was a Principal at Arthur D. Little, where he worked on strategy and mergers and acquisitions mandates across Central and Eastern Europe as well as the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region. Before this, he held senior management positions at Swisscom, including roles in Group Strategy and as Head of New Business Development.

Oliver Lux holds a Master’s degree in Economics and Trade from the Vienna University of Economics and Business, Austria, and an Executive Diploma in Financial Strategy from Saïd Business School, University of Oxford, United Kingdom.

Outside mandates

Listed companies:

• n. a.

Other mandates:

• n. a.

Holdings as per 31.3.2025

• Shares¹⁾: 661
• Performance Share Units: 657
• Restricted Share Units: 463
• Options: 8'797

1) Shares are dividend entitled with full voting rights. For further details see also Note 7.4 in the consolidated financial statements.

Biography

Alistair Simpson (Born 1969, British citizen) was appointed Group Vice President Cochlear Implants in July 2024.

Alistair Simpson is responsible for Sonova’s global Cochlear Implants business, including strategy, portfolio development and commercial execution across markets. He has held senior general management and functional leadership roles in global healthcare companies, with responsibility for full profit‑and‑loss management, product portfolios and business operations in regulated environments. His professional background spans general management, global marketing and sales as well as business and market development.

Prior to joining Sonova, he held senior leadership positions at Johnson & Johnson, Danaher and LivaNova. In these roles, his responsibilities included the management of global businesses and product lines, the commercialization of medical technologies, and the development of scalable operating models across regions. 

Alistair Simpson holds a Master of Business Administration from the Joseph M. Katz Graduate School of Business at the University of Pittsburgh, USA, and a Bachelor of Science in Geography from the University of Glasgow, United Kingdom.

Outside mandates

Listed companies:

• n. a.

Other mandates:

• n. a.

Holdings as per 31.3.2025

• Shares¹⁾: -
• Performance Share Units: 605
• Options: 2'595

1) Shares are dividend entitled with full voting rights. For further details see also Note 7.4 in the consolidated financial statements.

Biography

Lilika Beck (Born 1979, Australian and Canadian citizen) joined the Sonova Group in 2009 and held several leadership roles within Hearing Instruments and Audiological Care before being appointed Group Vice President Consumer Hearing in June 2024.

Within the Hearing Instruments business, Lilika Beck held leadership roles at the Unitron brand, including Vice President Global Marketing and Country Director Australia. From 2019 to 2024, she served as Managing Director of Connect Hearing Canada within Sonova’s Audiological Care business. In this role, she was responsible for the Canadian business, including network development, commercial performance and organizational leadership. During her tenure, the business expanded its clinic network, implemented a company‑owned subscription model for hearing aids, and executed multiple acquisitions.

In her current role as President, Consumer Hearing, Lilika Beck is responsible for the global Consumer Hearing business, including strategy, portfolio development and commercial execution across markets.

She holds a Master’s degree in International Business from Macquarie University, Australia.

Outside mandates

Listed companies:

• n.a.

Other mandates:

• n.a.

Holdings as per 31.3.2025

• Shares¹⁾: -
• Performance Share Units: 492
• Restricted Share Units: 298
• Options: 4'846

1) Shares are dividend entitled with full voting rights. For further details see also Note 7.4 in the consolidated financial statements.

Biography

Franz Brand (born 1959, US-Swiss citizen) joined Sonova Group in February 2020 and assumed the role of Group General Counsel, Compliance Officer & Group Company Secretary in April 2020.

Franz is a seasoned global legal, business and board-level executive with over 37 years of international experience across a wide range of jurisdictions and industries. Prior to joining Sonova, he served as Group Legal Counsel at A.S. Watson Group, the world`s largest international health and beauty retailer, based in Hong Kong. In that role, he managed global legal departments and oversaw M&A, joint venture, integration, business expansion, and transformation projects across the health and beauty, pharmacy, retail, wholesale, and food and beverage sectors. 

Earlier in his career, he held senior in-house counsel and leadership positions at UBS, ABB, Asia Online, and Globeleq, with expertise across project finance, energy and infrastructure, telecoms and internet services. Over the course of his career, he has lived and worked across Europe (Western and Eastern), the UK, Asia Pacific (including Hong Kong SAR and China), the Middle East, Africa, and North America.

Franz began his legal career as a Commercial Litigation Attorney in Los Angeles. He holds a Juris Doctor from the University of Wisconsin, and is licensed to practice law in a number of jurisdictions, including California. He also holds an MBA from the International Institute for Management Development (IMD), Lausanne, Switzerland.

Outside mandates

Listed companies:

• n.a.

Other mandates:

• n.a.

Biography

Bjørn Christ (born 1967, Danish citizen) joined Sonova in 2018. He has served Sonova in multiple roles including Strategy, Business development, M&A, Sales Operations and Key account management. He was appointed to Chief Strategy Officer in January 2026.

Bjorn brings 20+ years of international MedTech experience. From 2012 to 2018 he was at Danaher, in commercial executive and general management roles, serving from 2014-2018 as President of Swedish-headquartered IVDfocused operating company HemoCue. Prior to this assignment, Bjorn was at Coloplast as Senior Vice President overseeing the Americas, Asia and Emerging markets, as well as Urology, Wound and Skincare business units. He joined Coloplast from GN ReSound, where he served several years as President of GN ReSound US following 4 years as General Manager, Japan. Bjorn spent his early career in consulting, focusing on information technology at Price Waterhouse and McKinsey & Co. He holds a M.Sc. in Economics (Cand. Polit) from the University of Copenhagen.

Outside mandates

Listed companies:

• n.a.

Other mandates:

• n.a.

Biography

Fang Fang (born 1979, Chinese citizen) joined Sonova Group in July 2022 as Vice President and General Manger for Sonova China, responsible for  Hearing Instrument Wholesale and Retail and Cochlear business.  She was appointed Vice President, China Region for the Group in November 2025.

Fang brings over two decades MNC experiences across different industries. From 2009 to 2022, she led various general management roles in Johnson & Johnson MedTech China, she has long term proven successes record in Sales & Marketing, Market Access, business model innovation and business transformation.  

Prior to J&J, Fang had management roles in Europe and China with companies like IBM and Haladjan group, where she has accumulated rich experiences in Product marketing, Supply Chain and global procurement.  

Fang holds an MBA degree from INSEAD, France and a BA degree from Fudan University, China.  

Outside mandates

Listed companies:

• n.a.

Other mandates:

• n.a.

Biography

Thomas Hies (born 1967, German citizen) joined the Sonova Group in April 2026 upon his appointment as Chief Quality & Regulatory Officer. 

Thomas brings more than 20 years of international and cross-cultural leadership experience in R&D, Quality & Regulatory Affairs, and Sustainability, with a strong focus on hearing health, acoustics, and medical devices. Before joining Sonova, he held global senior leadership roles in the acoustics industry and the hearing care sector, including Chief Quality & Regulatory Officer at WS Audiology and Senior Vice President Quality & Regulatory Affairs at Sivantos. 

His industry background spans multinational corporations as well as SMEs, complemented by hands-on experience in managing innovation-driven start-ups.

Thomas holds a diploma degree (equivalent to a master’s) in Physics from the Technical University of Berlin and a PhD in Electrical Engineering from the Friedrich Alexander University of Erlangen-Nuremberg.

Outside mandates

Listed companies:

• n.a.

Other mandates:

• n.a.

Biography

Andreas Schmidlechner (born 1964, Austrian citizen) joined Sonova Group in January 2018 as Managing Director Sonova Retail Germany. In 2023, he was appointed Vice President, Commercial Excellence and APAC/LATAM, and served as a member of Audiological Care's Global Executive Committee. For the majority of 2025 he led our US Retail business before being appointed Chief Retail Excellence Officer. From 2005 to 2017, he led marketing, sales and business strategies at McDonald’s Austria, serving first as Marketing and Communications Director and then five years as Managing Director. Earlier in his career, Andreas led brand management and product innovation for Unilever’s brands, including Dove, across Europe and Latin America.

Andreas brings over 25 years of leadership experience with a proven track record in growing results and market shares across industries and geographies.

He holds a Business Administration Marketing and Strategy degree from University of Innsbruck, Austria.

Outside mandates

Listed companies:

• n. a.

Other mandates:

• n. a.

Biography

Rohit Shroff (born 1983, Indian citizen) was appointed Chief Marketing Officer of Sonova Group in March 2026, after joining the company in 2023 as Vice President Marketing for the Hearing Instruments Business Unit. He brings over 15 years of experience in medtech and life sciences. Before joining Sonova, Rohit served as Senior Vice President at Avantor, where he led the portfolio management, strategic planning and commercial excellence functions. Earlier in his career, he held several commercial and product leadership roles at Tecan, a global leader in laboratory automation, and R&D roles at Nestlé.

Rohit holds a Ph.D. from the Max Planck Society in Jena, Germany, and completed a post-doctoral fellowship at ETH Zurich, Switzerland; he also earned an M.Sc. in Functional Genomics from the University of York, UK, and a B.Sc. in Biotechnology from Bangalore University, India.

Outside mandates

Listed companies:

• n.a.

Other mandates:

• n.a.

Biography

Bernd Wagner (born 1969, German citizen) joined Sonova Group in December 2025 as President, Asia-Pacific (excluding China). He brings more than 25 years of experience in the hearing care industry and extensive leadership experience across Asia and Europe.

During his career, Bernd held several senior leadership and general management roles in the hearing care industry, including serving as Managing Director and CEO of the hearing instruments business in India for a global hearing care company, where he was responsible for developing the business and expanding market access across the country. He later served as CEO of the company’s China organization, one of the largest hearing care businesses in the region, where he oversaw wholesale, retail, and e-commerce operations and led the organization through a period of business expansion and organizational transformation.

Bernd has extensive experience in multichannel strategy, distribution network development, digital business models, and building high-performing international teams. He has spent a significant part of his career in Asia and is experienced in scaling businesses in emerging markets and navigating diverse regulatory, reimbursement, and distribution environments across the Asia-Pacific region.

He holds a Master of Engineering in Biomedical/Medical Engineering from a German university of applied sciences.

Outside mandates

Listed companies:

• n. a.

Other mandates:

• n. a.