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 over 30 years of global experience and proven commercial leadership capabilities. From 2019 to 2024, he served as CEO of WS Audiology, a global leader in the hearing care sector, successfully managing the merger and integration of Widex and Sivantos. Prior to that, he spent 25 years in country, regional, and global leadership roles at Essilor, the world leader in the optical industry, where he was also a member of the Executive Committee for 9 years. After 1992, Eric was based in Japan, Singapore, the US, Australia, China and Denmark.

Eric received a master’s degree in applied mathematics and social sciences from Université Paris Dauphine-PSL, France, and is a graduate from 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 was appointed Chief Financial Officer in July 2025. 

Elodie is a seasoned CFO with more than 25 years of experience in multinational companies with a strong focus on technology. She joined Sonova from the Landis+Gyr Group where she was Group CFO since 2020. Previously, she was Group CFO at Hoerbiger, held global CFO roles at Alstom/General Electric, and senior financial roles at Hewlett-Packard. 

Elodie has a proven track record of driving growth and operational excellence for publicly listed companies across various industries & extensive experience in M&A. 

She holds a Finance MBA 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 Sonova Group in November 2025 and was appointed Group Vice President, Chief Operations Officer in December 2025.

Roberto brings 25 years of broad and valuable industry background, having held Chief Operations Officer and business leader roles at WSAudiology, Sivantos, and Elica Group, where he has continuously demonstrated the ability to drive transformation, realize cost efficiencies, and raise quality and service in global, matrix organizations. From 2019 to 2024, he served as COO and President APAC at WSAudiology after two years with the Sivantos Group where he spearheaded their global efficiency program. Before entering the hearing industry, Roberto spent 11 years in executive leadership roles at Elica Group, a cooking appliance designer and manufacturer.

Roberto holds an Electrical Engineering degree from the University of Bologna, Italy.

Outside Mandates

Listed companies:

• n.a.

Other mandates:

• n.a.

Biography

Katya Kruglova (born 1971, UK citizen) joined the Sonova Group in March 2023 and was appointed Group Vice President Human Resources & Communications in May 2023. 

Katya is a seasoned HR leader with more than 25 years of global experience in large-scale organizations and various industries, including medical devices, life sciences and financial services. She joined Sonova from GE Healthcare, a global medical technology company, where she led a global HR team located in more than 30 countries as VP Human Resources. She also played a key role in the spin-off of GE Healthcare into a publicly listed company. Prior to that, Katya held HR positions with growing responsibilities in various General Electric entities, including GE Healthcare Life Sciences and GE Capital.

Katya has a Master’s degree in English/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 of the Hearing Instruments business unit and became Group Vice President Research & Development in October 2025.

He is an accomplished R&D leader with more than 20 years of international experience in scaling global hardware and software organizations. Before joining Sonova, Anders held various senior leadership roles at Ericsson, including Vice President positions in Strategy & Portfolio, Software Engineering, and Architecture & Technology. He has a proven track record in driving innovation, shaping technology roadmaps, and delivering cloud-native and AI-driven solutions, combined with deep expertise in mixed-signal hardware, embedded software, and large-scale organizational transformation.

Anders holds an MSc in Electronic Engineering from Lund University and has completed executive leadership programs at Boston University and Ericsson.

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 Sonova Group in 2010 and held various general management roles in Audiological Care (AC), before being appointed as Group Vice President Audiological Care in June 2024.

During Oliver’s longstanding experience in Audiological Care, he has held managing director roles in various markets, including Austria, Hungary, the US, and most recently Managing Director of Germany. He also held global corporate roles, such as VP of Strategy & Transformation and Commercial Excellence in AC. He has helped to strategically expand the global presence of the AC business and was in charge of business development and M&A to expand sales structures and integrate new stores. He was involved in the launch of "World of Hearing" at a global scale and was also responsible for new markets (e.g. Brazil, China and Japan).

Before joining Sonova, Oliver was a Principal at Arthur D. Little focusing on consulting Strategy and M&A mandates in Central Europe East (CEE) and the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) regions.

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

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, UK citizen) was appointed Group Vice President Cochlear Implants in July, 2024. He is an experienced business executive with an excellent track record in managing full P&Ls as a General Manager, including leading marketing, sales, and R&D functions. He brings longstanding expertise in operational excellence and highly regulated medical devices, including successful commercialization of multiple new products in a variety of therapeutic areas. 

Alistair is well-versed in interacting and building relationships with key physician contacts, and looks back to more than 10 years of experience in operating as well as building business systems. Thus, he successfully combines customer-centricity with being a process-driven business leader. Additionally, he has multi-region professional experience, and has held various senior leadership positions in companies including Johnson & Johnson, Danaher and LivaNova. 

He holds an MBA 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, UK. 

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-Canadian citizen) has held several leadership roles within Hearing Instruments and Audiological Care, before being appointed Group Vice President Consumer Hearing in June 2024. 

Lilika’s experience in Hearing Instruments includes the leadership of the Unitron brand as VP Global Marketing and as Unitron Country Director Australia. Between 2019 and 2024, she was Managing Director of Connect Hearing Canada in our Audiological Care business. Under her leadership, Connect Hearing grew into a market leading brand, with high client satisfaction and employee engagement scores. Lilika has a strong track record in delivering impactful product launches, she has rapidly expanded the clinic network through M&A and deployed a company-owned subscription model for hearing aids. 

Lilika 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

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.